White Gold Lines
by ProbablySatan
Summary: Blood stains won't wash out of white collars but they can sew wings on tailored suits. Rich kids get bored far too easily these days. AU. SasuHina, ShikaIno, NaruSaku, possibly more.
1. Chapter 1

white gold lines

one

FIVE FOUND DEAD IN HOKAGE SUITES

The newspaper was slammed down on hard wood. Head shaken. Cigar pressed and extinguished.

Hinata pretended not to notice over orange juice. Hanabi inquired, always did. "What happened?"

"Nothing that concerns you," Hiashi's cold answer. He held out his arm, a servant placed diamonds onto the cuffs of his shirt. He hadn't even looked up. "Where's your brother?"

Hyuga Neji, Hinata's twin and _preferred_ child of Hiashi Hyuga. He was a prodigy and the only one Hiashi ever spoke business with.

"Don't know," Hanabi answered, unbothered, unconcerned.

Hinata tried to read the article as Hiashi turned an eyebrow up at his youngest daughter. She was about to get a mouth full for her attitude, something that happened nearly every day over toast and jelly. Hinata leaned forward, her eyes catching the words _cocaine_ and _Akatsuki._

The latter had no effect on her. The first left her confused. Should her father be upset about cocaine? Not likely.

Hanabi got all of her sister's questions answered. "Why are you so mad at that?" She pointed with a butter-laden knife. "You've got an underground business or something?"

Hinata sighed as her father did.

Hiashi turned a stern eye, looking like he wanted a glass of whisky at eight in the morning. "No, Hanabi. We are partnered with the Uzumaki's, remember?" Hiashi sent a pointed look Hinata's way. She flushed red. "This is one of their hotels-it's bad business. They're probably in a lot of trouble because of this."

Oh, Hinata thought. That made more sense. Hinata idly wondered how Naruto's family was handling the ensured uproar. She hoped that they had a good PR team.

"Speaking of Uzumakis," Hiashi stood just as his assistant entered the room, holding his ipad. "Naruto is coming over today, right?"

"Y-yes," Hinata finally spoke. "It's Tuesday."

Hiashi didn't say anything after that. His attention was on his assistant and he left shortly after. Hanabi grabbed the discarded newspaper, making a face. "Father is boring. I was hoping that he was in on the drug cartel."

"You watch t-too many movies," Hinata said, rolling her eyes.

"You don't watch enough, you're boring." Hanabi shot out. Her words were always laced with poison. Hinata never really blamed her, when razor sharp words brought on razor sharp attention. Hanabi needed what she could get, especially since she was so young. "No wonder you own fiancé doesn't like you."

FIVE FOUND DEAD IN HOKAGE SUITES

Neji held the article in front of Sasuke's face. Sasuke barely blinked. "Sucks," He said. He shoved the ipad away from his face and went to get into Neji's car. "For Naruto."

Neji just frowned, "Why do you think I'm showing you this?"

Sasuke hated Neji's persistence. "Chill, I read it when I woke up."

"You're not even _worried_ about this?" Neji was a level head guy. Practical. Knew what was and wasn't a big deal. "In Naruto's own hotel too."

Sasuke was just in a bad mood. Mornings usually left him that way. "Look I know you're excited, but can we talk about this later?"

Neji seemed perturbed at being called 'excited,' but he got the message and put his ipad away. Sasuke was always irritable in the mornings...afternoons...evenings. Sasuke was always irritable.

"You picking up Uzumaki today?" Sasuke questioned after a few minutes of silence.

"Nah, I don't even think he's coming to school. His parents have to do a press conference regarding the incident and hotel security. I think they want him there."

Sasuke nodded, "Well, the party's still on, right?"

"That all you care about?" Neji smirked. "I'm sure it is. That's all Naruto cares about too."

"Friday's a pretty big night," was all Sasuke said. He spent the rest of the ride ignoring his friend in favor of a book. Neji worried about everything. Nobody knew that about him, it was kind of annoying. "Talk to Nara or Inuzuka?"

"Kiba's been in America for the past week. He'll be back in time for Friday." Neji shrugged, "And you know Nara, no one can ever get a hold of him so I didn't even try."

Eventually they reach their school. They were thirty minutes early and Neji hadn't eaten breakfast, so they made their way to the dining hall. On the way, a smaller girl ran up to them and promptly crashed into Neji.

Sasuke rose an eyebrow as the girl turned an interesting shade of red.

"S-sorry, Neji." She looked up. Her eyes danced between the two of them, looking shyly away from Sasuke. "O-oh, hello Uchiha-san."

"Hey," He replied. Sasuke didn't know much about Neji's twin sister since they were in different classes. He just knew that she was painfully shy and unfortunately engaged to his best friend. Good luck to her.

She smiled timidly before turning to her brother. "Father was looking for you. He wanted to discuss the Hokage thing, I think."

Sasuke found himself raising an eyebrow again. The younger Hyuga didn't stutter around family, apparently. He watched her more closely, taking in her strangely large sweater that had to be stolen from Neji. Girl's usually didn't wear that kind. The sleeves were too big and almost covered her fingers.

"Yeah, he called," Neji answered. "How was breakfast without me?"

Sasuke thought that was a weird question. Surly Hinata could eat without her twin. She functioned in school fine without him, since Neji was in the same class as Sasuke.

Hinata shrugged halfheartedly. "The usual. H-Hanabi was a brat and father didn't react to anything she said."

Sasuke wandered away from the conversation, no longer interested in sibling-talk. He was unused to seeing siblings interact with closeness. Usually, the ones he came in contact with were in competition with one another or just didn't talk at all. Neji and Hinata's exchange was almost refreshing.

"Nara," Sasuke came to stop in front of his friend's locker. Shikamaru was sitting on the floor in front of it, arms crossed, looking seconds away from sleep. For a guy who's parents owned the school he sure didn't take it seriously. Sasuke wondered how his parents tolerated it, but reasoned that they were probably like everyone else's parents.

Absent.

Shikamaru didn't respond so Sasuke kicked him. "Nara."

Shikamaru blinked up at him, a scowl in place. "What do you want?"

"I'm sure you've heard." Sasuke squatted next to him.

"Of course," Shikamaru put his head against cream colored lockers and took out his phone, showing Sasuke the screen. Sasuke took the phone and swiped through the many articles Shikamaru had opened. All about the Hokage 'massacre, -they were calling it now. "Troublesome."

A pink-haired girl suddenly appeared beside them, her eyes sharp. "Bastard deserved it," Sakura stood above them, speaking of one of the people who had been murdered. "I mean, he was going to prison anyway. He was on bail for child pornography. Disgusting. I hope they fucking blasted his brains out and-"

"Not the point," Sasuke grumbled, annoyed. He wasn't sure when Haruno Sakura had become a member of their 'group,' but she'd somehow wiggled in and made herself a fixture. Sasuke assumed that it was because of Naruto's raging crush on her. Now she won't leave. "We're out of business."

Shikamaru shrugged, "We'll find someone else."

But Sakura was still ranting about the pedophile they'd been working with, swears flying left and right, her expression perfectly disgusted. Haruno Sakura didn't look like she matched their group at all-or their school for that matter. She had pink hair that was cut short and choppy and piercings up both of her ears. She also had a mouth for feminism and social justice, which, by the way, no rich kid at Nara Prep ever talked about. Sakura was a weird brand of rich kid-a scary one. One that didn't originally come from money at all.

She was new money and didn't know what to do with it..and a basket case, but that was just Sasuke's opinion.

Sasuke just shook his head, "What if it's not just the matter of 'finding someone else'?" He suddenly knew what Neji was so worried about. "Someone was after him. After his business." He didn't say what he was implying. _What if they're after us too?_

"There are a lot of things he was wanted dead for." Was all Shikamaru said, but he too seemed a bit anxious.

FIVE FOUND DEAD IN HOKAGE SUITES

Kushina turned off the TV with an annoyed point towards it. She ran her hands through her hair, leaning back against the couch, "This is a nightmare."

Naruto looked back and forth between his parents, uninterested and bored. Their PR team had been up and knocking on the door of their penthouse since five am, and the police had shown up even earlier. Murders in esteemed hotels weren't as common as people liked to think and there was nothing glamorous about ruined cherry wood floors and red stained cocaine white furniture.

The police were out of their hair fairly quickly; they'd just been up to request access to security cameras, visitor logs, and basic info on the layout of the hotel.

To be honest, Naruto would rather be at school. His parents kept him home so that he could learn how to deal with situations like this and avoid talking to the press/paparazzi. He took out his phone as his parents spoke with the press. He had a few texts from Neji and Sasuke about the situation, but besides that, things were pretty boring. Naruto looked through the news articles despite the fact that'd he'd already been watching the news. There was a picture of Orochimaru's mugshot on one website. The man had been awaiting his trial for child pornography before his murder. Naruto was just shocked that he was on trial for _that_ instead of murder or drugs.

He closed the app on his phone and leaned back in his seat. A reporter was asking about hotel security and how the Uzumaki's planned on fixing it. His parents were struggling to come up with answers, since they didn't quite know the details of the murder. The murderer could've been a resident at their hotel for all they knew.

"We would like to assure our guests that our hotels have maximum security and that their safety takes priority," Minato was saying. "Police have yet to identify the murderer so we can neither confirm nor deny whether the criminal was a resident in our hotel however..."

Naruto tuned them out. His phone buzzed in his hands and he unlocked it, expecting a text from one of the guys. He was surprised to see Hinata's name flash across the screen and he opened it curiously.

 _Are you okay?_

He was confused for a moment because, why wouldn't he be? Then he remembered the press conference going on at that very moment. He shrugged and told her that it wasn't a big deal. At least, not to him.

She responded back a couple minutes later;

 _Oh, everyone was making a big deal. I'm glad you're doing alright._

To be honest, texting Hinata exhausted him. She was too nice and too proper. Naruto didn't have the patience to try to be interested in anything she was saying. It was always "how are you"s and "Hope you're doing well"s. Not that Naruto didn't appreciate those messages...they just weren't messages he cared enough to respond to.

Okay, so he was an asshole. That had already been established. Unfortunately, his fiancé still hadn't quite got that message and continued to put her faith in him.

Naruto replied to her message, a quick dismissive text that he only sort-of felt bad about, _Yeah I'm fine. Kinda busy. C u later._

Hinata responded _Sorry for bothering you! v_v_ and Naruto almost felt bad. Almost.

It wasn't that he didn't _like_ Hinata or anything...he just didn't want to marry her. He thought that that was a completely fair feeling to have.

"We'll that's ridiculous and degrading," Kushina was yelling at a reporter. "For God's sake we can't do _background checks_ on those who wish to stay at one of our resorts!"

"FIVE FOUND DEAD IN HOKAGE SUITES,"

Kakashi turned to the television set, annoyed. "Turn that off, would you?"

"Yeah, sorry." Asuma said, a cigarette hanging from his lips. "Just wanted to see what the Uzumaki's were saying."

Kakashi shrugged and walked around the crime scene. There were five bodies total throughout the entire suite. The assumed target was Orochimaru.

It wasn't the first time Kakashi had stumbled on the name. Orochimaru was a known drug dealer and was considered popular among crime circles. He was known for trafficking things like cocaine and over the counter drugs, nothing ridiculously fancy. Kakashi had been keeping an eye on one of his cases, but that was before the guy was busted for child pornography.

He was all kinds of evil. Kakashi assumed that his murder was long time coming.

He stepped carefully over one of the bodies, his head tilted as he looked at the direction of the blood splatter. It was a small blonde woman, no older than 25. She was dressed in a cheetah print dress. Bullet straight through the frontal lobe. It looked like a clean exit through the back, too. The bullet should be somewhere around here...

Kakashi found it a few minutes later. He deposited it into an evidence bag and handed it to Asuma, "Send this to the lab." He paused, his eyes narrowing, "Did you find any weapons? A fingerprint would be nice."

"None yet," Asuma shrugged and put his cigarette out, "This bullet should help us find the gun, though. I'll send this off to Hitsugaya and keep looking."

Kakashi didn't reply and made his way back to where Orochimaru's body laid. His eyes were still open but there was no surprise on his face. In fact, he looked like he was smirking. His lips were pulled up in one corner. Kakashi walked around the body, his one visible eye lazily taking in the scene.

Orochimaru had been shot seven times in the chest and twice in the head. Kakashi assumed that it was the headshot that killed him, and that the chest shots were just to make sure that he was dead. It seemed a little excessive to Kakashi, but someone must've really hated him.

That part made sense. Finding the motive was easy, especially for an asshole like Orochimaru. He had a lot stacked against him but...

Kakashi frowned now. A guy as powerful and hated as Orochimaru had to have guards. Where were they?

Kakashi looped back around the suite, taking in each of the bodies. None of them looked like guards and three of them were scantily clad women. The last victim was male, a bit bulky, possible a guard. But surely Orochimaru had more than one?

Kakashi paused, thinking. An inside job, maybe? He turned on his heels to find his partner. He needed those surveillance tapes.

 **AN. Hey guys! This is a new fic I've been mulling over. So far I've written about six chapters each for three different variations of this fic. I finally decided that this was the way I wanted to go with it. Unfortunately, as this is the lastest version I've written (aka had the least amount of chapters complete + a rlly dodgy plot outline) I don't have much written for it.**

 **I'd love to get some feedback to see if this is truly the direction I want to go, so please review!**

 **(Side note: Any readers of Common Delinquents out there? This fic will share the same themes ;) (although not as much Deidara :( ))**

 **Please tell me what you think!**


	2. Chapter 2

White gold lines

Two

Most people who go from rags to riches don't really go back to rags-not on purpose, anyway. That may have been Haruno Sakura's first mistake upon joining a group of "renegade" rich jerks that just wanted a taste of something dangerous.

She really should've said, "No thanks," when Naruto and Kiba proposed something crazy; something she'd grown up with, something she knew quite a bit about. She really should have been more skeptical, should've wondered why they all weren't content enough to sit pretty in their daddy's penthouses, counting their money. She should've asked herself too-she's seen it all before-why couldn't she just sit in her adopted mother's gorgeous condo and enjoy the amenities of expensive living?

It wasn't like she had been exposed to it for very long.

She'd tried to work it out in her head many times already. Why had she befriended this pack of rogue wealthy assholes-they were the worst kind too-the richest and most well known in the city. Why was she doing what she only thought she'd end up doing if she was still poor with nothing else to turn to?

She was bored.

Turned out, they were too. Rich boredom was dangerous. Those boys already thought that they could rule the world. Give 'em a gun and mindless followers you destroy it.

That's why they're in this mess now. Naruto's hotel scandal hit close to home, literally, but Orochimaru deserved what he got, Sakura stood firmly on that. Although Sakura had never had to interact with the man, the idea of him sent shivers down her spine. She tried to ignore the fact that they had been working with a pedophile. The fact that she had _helped_ someone so vile made her want to vomit. She spent nights lying in bed, wide-awake and hot with guilt.

Her skin crawled even thinking about it. None of the boys knew how her fist bleed with rage whenever she thought how she'd indirectly helped such a vile being.

"The whole floor is basically off limits," Naruto was saying. He shoved a forkful of instant ramen into his mouth. "I tried to sneak up there but a cop caught me."

"Obviously," Sasuke said. He rolled his eyes.

"Police haven't released any statements," Shikamaru shut his iPad off and turned towards the three of them. "Any ideas on who might've killed him?"

"Could've been anyone," Sakura said glumly, playing with one of the piercings in her ears. "Everyone hated the guy. Even us. He deserved to di-"

"We know, we know. He was an asshole," Sasuke waved a hand idly, dismissing her statement.

"Well he _was_ , he-"

"Was a horrible person, yeah." Sasuke said again, monotone.

"Have you ever, like, been _passionate_ about anything? Ever?"

Sasuke blinked at her.

Naruto slurped loudly beside her ear, "He really likes dogs."

Sakura wrinkled her nose. Sasuke and dogs? No way.

Sasuke seemed just as perturbed by the idea, "What?" He shook his head, "Anyway, it's Tuesday, don't you have somewhere to be Naruto?"

Naruto fumbled and almost dropped his ramen in his hurry to pick up his book bag, "Shit, you're right. If I'm late again my mom will _kill_ me."

"By all means, take your time." Sasuke said.

"Where do you always go Tuesdays anyway?" Sakura queried. Sasuke and Neji were the only two people who seemed to know. Shikamaru might've known too, but that's just because he knew everything. Kiba was too oblivious to notice that Naruto had to leave at the same time every Tuesday.

"Oh," Naruto scratched his cheek. "Just-somewhere" He smiled with all his teeth and tried to hug her. "See you later!"

Sakura leaned back, staring as the blonde disaster left.

Shikamaru shook his head as Naruto tripped over a rock on his way to his driver.

-:- -:- -:-

She felt very small here. Insignificant. In the grand scheme of things, she was close to nothing.

She wasn't an heir, her brother took care of that, and she wasn't a prodigy; no, that was her sister. She wasn't even a genius-again, a title her older twin brother had claimed. She wasn't really anything. She was just kind of there.

So she became the disposable child, the one you marry off in order to create business deals and open up thousands of opportunity. She'd gain her father more wealth one way or another.

So, that was how she became engaged to Uzumaki Naruto, heir to Uzumaki enterprises, one of the biggest businesses in the country specializing in hospitality. Hotels, Spas, restaurants, high-class shopping districts, and property. That was their deal. The Uzumaki's lived _comfortably_ , to say the least.

It was a plus that Hinata happened to have a massive crush on the young heir. Unfortunately, Naruto barely even knew she existed before that. (It didn't help that he continued to ignore her existence afterward either.)

She still remembered when the announcement was made. She'd been reading in garden when Hanabi had popped up beside her, a mischievous smile on her face. Hanabi told her that she'd seen a limo pull up.

Hinata shrugged, nothing unusual about that, she supposed. Father had business and guests over all the time.

Hanabi had assured her that it was _important_. Had to be! Their father was in the foyer waiting to welcome the guests himself. Hinata sighed, waiting for her sister to stop being so dramatic.

Finally, Hanabi told her that it was the Uzumakis. They had come to have a meeting with Hiashi.

"Something _big_ ," Hanabi smiled cheekily.

Not too long after that, Hinata was called into one of their many sittings rooms. She was seated in a high baked fuchsia chair speckled with lavender flowers. Next to her sat a table with tea, and next to that, Naruto.

The adults stared at them both. Hinata didn't know what to do so she poured tea for the room's occupants; the polite thing to do.

"A perfect match," Kushina had nodded, and Hinata turned the color of the woman's hair. "Look how cute they are! Polar opposites. Adorable."

"Mom," Naruto had whined, slouching forward. He hadn't even picked up the tea Hinata had so kindly poured. "I have a thing with Kiba later can we-"

"Naruto," Kushina warned, her tone suddenly much sharper. "We are here on business. Be polite." Then, she sat up, her eyes sparkling, "You're not being very likable right now. Don't you want to make a good impression on your new fiancé?"

Naruto hadn't been listening much, as he was in the process of shoving a cookie in his mouth. After the words processed and he chewed he said, "What? Where?"

Hinata had gone into shock and hadn't moved an inch.

Hiashi looked very, very tired all of a sudden. Minato shook his head and stood, "Hyuga-san and I have decided to undergo something like a merge."

Hinata paled and then turned bright red in the span of two seconds, "S-so, th-that means..."

"That means you're going to be my daughter-in-law!" Kushina rejoiced, all smiles. She took Hinata's hands in her own and said, "Congratulations on your engagement to my son!"

And Naruto said, "Wait? What?"

That's all Hinata remembered from that day because she had fainted shortly after Kushina got in her face. Later, her father told her the rest of the details, muttering about 'tactless Uzumakis' and Hinata wasn't really sure if her father even _liked_ them or not.

She was 16 and a half then, and was to be married the summer after her 21st birthday. She had about five years to learn everything she could about her fiancé before marriage. They did not know when the engagement would be announced, but for now it was top-secret information. There was no ring because there was no engagement. And every week on Tuesday, Naruto and Hinata would be forced to spend an evening together, preferably studying, but other activities (such as going to the movies) would be acceptable if asked permission.

Hinata didn't know if she wanted to die from happiness or embarrassment. On one hand, she had been in love with Naruto for years... on the other, he barely even knew of her existence. Now that they were forced together, she was sure that he detested it.

The Tuesday evenings were stuffy and uncomfortable. Most of the time, they'd sit in the Hyuga library and do their homework, sometimes not even at the same table. Naruto never really tried to talk to her, and Hinata was too shy to start the conversation. They fell into a silent routine of homework, headphones in, world off. Sometimes, Hinata would get to help him with his trigonometry, but most of the time, they sat in silence.

What bothered Hinata the most was that she knew that Naruto was an outgoing person. She knew that he was kind and sociable. Why wasn't he that way toward her? What had she done to deserve this other, moodier side of Naruto? Was this the Naruto she would have to marry?

Despite his moodiness and obvious unhappiness with the situation, Hinata still loved him. She couldn't just _not_ love him. She loved the way he'd laugh at a joke on his Twitter feed, the way he'd nod his head to the music on his headphones, the way he'd spin his pencil between his fingers when he was thinking. She loved the one dimple in his left cheek and the smile that left her blinded. She loved the way he loved cheap instant ramen, something she had never known someone of his caliber to like. She loved that he was humble, and kind, and sweet. Even if he was never those things to her.

She was pathetic, really.

Once, Neji had threatened to beat love into Naruto. It had been a bit funny at the time but then Hinata realized that Neji had meant it. He didn't like the way the boy had blown off his sister so carelessly, and it struck a chord in him. "It's disrespectful," Neji had said. He turned to Hinata with anger in his eyes, "I mean, you see the tabloids. He's out doing God knows what with God knows who and the Uzumaki's do nothing to discipline him."

Hinata has blushed, thinking of said tabloid. The blonde had been featured one called _Star Gaze!_ It was notorious for following around the heirs and heiress of big corporations. He'd been in an article called "Rich kidz Take to the Sea." There was a spread of pictures of him, Inuzuka Kiba, and Uchiha Sasuke, drunk and hanging around a group of scantily clad girls on one of their boats.

"H-he's just having fun," Hinata defended her fiancé.

"Hinata," Neji had sighed, "Naruto is my friend. I know what the asshole is up to. That's why I'm so mad father made this bullshit decision."

Hinata had jumped at the swear but shook her head nonetheless, "He was thinking of the business. I-it's good for us."

"Yeah well, it wouldn't kill him to think about his kids' feelings either."

And Hinata didn't argue with that, because Neji was right. Neji was usually right about most things.

Now, she sits in the library, waiting for her fiancé to come and sit in silence with her for the next few hours. At first, she had loved Tuesdays, now she dreads them. Sometimes she thinks about how easy it would be if she _didn't_ love him. If she hadn't of known him from their childhood.

"Hinata? Hello? You in there?" A hand flashed across her face.

Hinata jumped, blinking a couple hundred times, "O-oh!" She blushed, "Naruto. S-sorry, I was thinking about something."

"I can see that," The blonde said, dumping his book bag on one of the long tables. He pulled a textbook out of his giant bag. "I was wondering if you could help me with some physics?" He scratched his cheek. "I hate this shit-sorry, stuff." He apologized as Hinata's cheeks colored. "And you're smart as hel...heck so I figured I'd ask you. 'Would ask Neji but he's got something up his ass. Oops, sorry."

"Y-you know i-it's ok if you s-swear around me?" Hinata was embarrassed. Naruto always tried to censor himself around her, for some reason. "I'm n-not a child."

"Yeah but it just seems wrong," Naruto said. "Plus if Neji finds out I'm being impolite around his baby sister he'll kill me."

"P-please don't listen to him," Hinata said, her eyes downcast. No wonder Naruto barely paid attention to her, he thought she was some sort of delicate vase or something!

Naruto shrugged and shot the book over to Hinata, "Do you understand this? I can't figure out the initial velocity..."

Hinata looked at the problem and began writing down notes. As she did so, Naruto scratched the back of his neck, remembering something he had wanted to say.

"Hey, so um, sorry about earlier."

"Huh?" Hinata looked up, confused. "What do you mean?"

"You know?" Naruto muttered, "I kind of ignored you. When you texted me, I mean."

"Oh," Hinata just smiled brightly. She tucked a hair behind her head and looked back at his textbook, her cheeks went pink. "It's o-kay. I'm used to it."

 _I'm used to it?_

Naruto immediately felt 100 times worse. How many times had he blown of his fiancé? How many times had he done it to her face?

He wanted to ask her about it but Hinata started talking again, "B-besides, there was a lot going on. I texted y-you at a b-bad time."

Somehow, Naruto still felt bad, "Yeah but—"

Hinata didn't appear to want to talk about it, She pointed to her notebook paper, "This is how you calculate initial velocity..."

As Hinata talked to him, he let her voice fade into background noise as he got settled at the table. The Hyuga library was huge and extravagant; everything in the Hyuga mansion was. It was situated toward the back of their home, and was mostly glass. It was one of the most modern rooms in the whole house; large floor to ceiling windows, sleek black and white furniture, and mahogany bookshelves that climbed to the ceiling.

Something about the whole room just screamed _Hyuga._

Naruto hated the stuffy Hyugas, he hated their rules and their snobbiness, and he especially hated being told what to do. Now he was being told who to marry? He never knew his parents would stoop _that_ low.

The Hyuga and the Uzumaki were two very different types of rich people-even if they both came from old money. The Hyugas lived in a huge ass, unnecessarily big, mansion hidden among other homes in the middle of the city. Naruto and his parents lived in a penthouse high-rise apartment a little big east of that. Naruto's apartment neighbored the beach and it was 10 times better than a stuffy mansion that had six times more rooms than occupants that inhabited the place.

Naruto looked down at his homework to find that Hinata had basically done the problem for him. She had drawn little arrows with directions underneath telling him how she had solved the problem. Naruto took one look at her notes and immediately understood the question.

"You're really smart," Naruto commented idly. "Aren't you second, third, in the class?"

"Slightly behind Sakura..." She muttered. So, about third. Neji was best in their class, followed by Sakura, then Hinata.

"Ahead of Sasuke," Naruto said, grinning. "And Shikamaru."

Shikamaru happened to be at the very bottom, and Naruto was still confused about how that went over with his parents-the _owners_ of the goddamn school. Naruto had asked but Shikamaru shrugged him, saying that they didn't care.

Hinata shook her head, "Shikamaru is a genius...everyone knows that. He's down because he doesn't try. A-and Sasuke is also really smart, j-just lazy. They b-both should be ahead of me."

Naruto shook his head, "You're too modest." He scribbled something onto his notebook, "Physics is kicking Sasuke's ass, just like it is mine."

Hinata just shook her head, "Y-you're not even bad," She gestured to the other problems she had looked over for him.

"You give people too much credit," Naruto said, and he meant it. She, after all, was still somehow tolerating him after all the shit he'd put her through. He basically ignored every day of the week except the mandatory Tuesdays-how was she so forgiving? How much patience does this girl have?

Hinata turned pink and shrugged her shoulders a little. Naruto watched her curiously as she tucked a piece of hair behind her ear and turned back to the massive book she was reading.

Naruto shook his head, feeling a bit guilty. He'd been an asshole ever since the engagement was announced. He could at least try to like Hinata a little...it's not like he had ever given her a chance in the first place. "Hey, Hinata?"

"Yeah?" Hinata looked up curiously.

"I'm having a party this Friday...you should come."

-:- -:- -:-

"Can't believe something like this happened," Tsunade turned the tv off. She'd been watching the late night news with a glass of sake. They were still talking about the massacre at Hokage.

"Why not?" Sakura was curious. She turned to her adopted mother and cocked her head to the side, "Things like this happen all the time."

Tsunade made a dismissive gesture as she slowly got off the couch. "I guess you're right, kid. It just feels different when it's so close to home, you know?"

Tsunade was speaking of the Uzumaki's. They had a weirdly close relationship that wasn't business related. Sakura wasn't 100% sure but she thought Naruto was actually Tsunade's godson.

Tsunade put a hand on Sakura's head as she passed behind her. "You know I'm flying to Korea tomorrow, right?"

Sakura nodded idly, she had tried to forget. While she loved that Tsunade adopted her, she kinda thought that meant that the woman would be around more. Well, you win some you lose some. "Another research project? How long will you be gone this time?" She may have sounded bitterer than she meant to.

Tsunade was a world-renowned surgeon and researcher. The best in the country. She was always flying to different countries for months at a time leading research projects and making speeches. She was an amazing woman, an amazing mother, even. She just didn't have a lot of time on her hands.

"We've had this conversation before, Sakura." Tsunade sighed and walked over to the front door. Sakura followed her into the foyer and it was there that Sakura noticed five suitcases, piled in front of the closet.

"So, a while."

"Just two weeks. I'm going there to check on their progress."

"It takes two weeks?" Sakura wrinkled her nose. "And five suitcases?"

Tsunade sighed again. "They're…just in case I have to stay longer. Checking on progress means that there's a possibility that the project isn't going as well as I hoped. I might have to stay longer to get these people on the right path."

"Longer like what? A month?" Sakura felt her ears turning red. There was some type of weird burning behind her eyelids. They both knew that she had abandonment issues; it's what comes with being a foster child most of your life.

"If I'm lucky," Tsunade crossed the room and patted Sakura's head again "I know how much me leaving bothers you but you'll get over it." She paused, knowing that that wasn't the right approach. "….I can fly you out to stay with me for a week if you want? Plus, Shizune will stop by everyday to check on you."

Sakura moved out of Tsunade's grip, knowing that hugging wasn't in the woman's nature anyway. "I'll be fine."

Tsunade didn't seem to believe her, "If you say so."

Just then, a pink pig wearing a red dress scurried into the foyer, oinking at the tower of suitcases. Tsunade shook her head, "Tonton is angry that I'm leaving too. You little brat."

Sakura twitched, "I'm not angry."

"Whatever you say," Tsunade leaned down to pet her pig. "I'm going to bed now. I've got an early flight."

"'Night," Sakura muttered bitterly. "I hope your plane doesn't crash."

"A nice sentiment," Tsunade said darkly before climbing the stairs to her room.

Sakura rolled her eyes and returned to the living room.

Tsunade had taken Sakura in about five years ago when she was thirteen. At the time, Sakura had been in and out of foster care and group homes, never having a steady environment. She'd been moved all over Konoha, from nice normal suburban areas to dangerous slums. It was in the slums where she met Tsunade. Her foster parents at the time had enrolled her in an after school program, just so to get her out of their hair. Sakura got to choose which one and chose to go to CPR class in hopes of getting her certificate. She'd always wanted to be a doctor of sorts.

During one of the classes, they had a seminar with a special speaker. Tsunade was doing a speech as part of her charity despite the fact that she regularly gave donations to the program. Sakura immediately knew who she was and spoke with her after her speech. Tsunade was impressed with her as she was the youngest one in the room.

Tsunade later invited her for lunch the next day and the pair grew closer as Sakura asked for advice and mentorship from Tsunade. Eventually, Tsunade had heard about all the bad things that had happened to the girl and decided to adopt Sakura herself.

And so Tsunade became a mother.

She started school at Nara Prep the next year and no one suspected that she had been poor her whole life. The name 'Haruno' had no bearing behind it, but somehow, they all assumed she was 'New Money,' and while that was technically true, it wasn't in the sense that they were thinking.

In all actually, Tsunade came from very old money, just like the rest of the rich snobs Sakura came in contact with.

Sakura grabbed her phone and scrolled through her notifications. She had two texts from Naruto and five from a group chat they were all in. The five messages were all from Kiba and they said variations of "American chicks r _wild_." and "wtf r u all doing sleeping?!" and the "poop" emoji.

Sakura didn't reply and neither did anyone else. Kiba was the one who set up the stupid group message anyway. He and Naruto were the only ones who used the godforsaken thing. Come to think of it, Sasuke and Neji both _left_ the group weeks ago.

Sakura was just putting her phone down when it vibrated again, this time a text from one of her old friends. Someone she had met before all the money but had somehow followed her into this life too.

Ino had sent her a text that just said,

 _need ur help_

Right now? Sakura texted back and looked at the clock, it was about 2am and she had school tomorrow.

 _Yeeeah, I've got a shoot tomorrow. I have 2 b perfect._

Sakura sent a quick text back, asking if Ino was at her house or her dorm.

 _Im at home. My dads at work._

Sakura scrunched up her nose. She and Ino had very different definitions of perfect. Sakura went to her room to put on some pants before meeting Ino.

 **An. I like to think that if Sakura was not infatuated with Sasuke in canon she would hate him lmao. it's def considered ooc for Sakura to** _ **not**_ **be in love with Sasuke(or even to hate him) but (my) Sasuke is blasé where Sakura is passionate. If i were sakura i'd fight the guy.**

 **Anyway, this is just more background as I start to work the plot out in my head with a little more detail. Hope u enjoyed anyway!**

 **Sorry if the tense gets weird—one of the projects im working on is written in present tense so when I switch to this fic it gets a bit weird.**

 **review pls!**


	3. Chapter 3

white gold lines

3

Pale blue blankets came down like a waterfall and landed in a pool at her feet. She pulled down a purple one from across the room, and another blanket that was over her vanity. Now she saw herself. The mirrors uncovered; her face stared back her.

Sakura hated that Ino covered all her mirrors. She said that it was self-destructive so Ino took them down whenever Haruno came, if only to save herself a headache.

Besides...there were only certain days when Ino needed not see herself. It wasn't self-destructive at all. It was self-saving.

She had to look at herself now though, Sakura or not. She had a casting to go to tomorrow and she had to be perfect.

Modeling was...something like a stepping stool for Ino. Did she have passion for it? Sure, but was it her endgame? Hell no. She did it for the platform modeling will eventually give her; she did it for the voice.

But no one really knew that, not even Sakura. They all just thought that she enjoyed being in front of a camera. Ino had decided long ago that it was easier to let people assume things about you than to correct them.

Even her own best friend.

Ino turned from the mirror and began to set clothes out. She didn't quite know what look she wanted to go for for the casting director, she just knew that she had to look good.

"I'm here," Sakura called up. Ino heard her begin to come up the stairs and sigh as she reached the top, "Your dad home?"

"Nah, he's working." Ino responded as she kicked the blankets under her bed.

"Woulda been better if you were in your dorm, you know." Sakura finally entered the room, sighing from exertion. She looked like she wasn't wearing pants and wore a giant hoodie that fell over her thighs. "Moriyama is like, two feet from my house."

Ino wrinkled her nose at the mention of her prestigious all-girl high school. "I hate it there. Besides, my dad's been working night shifts lately and needs me to close the shop, so I've been home for the last week."

Ino was referring to the flower shop her father owned. It rested below their apartment and was practically exploding with plants. It was in a neighborhood a little south of the expensive shopping district downtown. Ino's business didn't exactly cater to the needs of people like Haruno Sakura, and definitely not someone like ones of her friends.

Still, it was her favorite place in the world. She could smell the flowers all the way up from her room.

"You guys should really hire more help. Your dad's been working _so_ much." Sakura lay across Ino's bed.

"Well, he has to afford Moriyama somehow," Ino's words dripped with sarcasm. They both knew where Ino's tuition and expensive clothing came from.

"Huh," Sakura mused, then sat up. Ino could practically see the wheel's turning in the girl's head. Most of the time, Haruno forgot that Ino's dad was a cop as well as a flower specialist. "Is your dad working on the Hokage case?"

"Oh no, Forehead, I'm not asking him for details so you can run off and tell your rich friends." Ino knew very little about Sakura and the friend's she'd made at school. She just knew that they always ended up in quite a bit of trouble. The richest of the group, Uzumaki and Uchiha, showed up weekly in tabloids without fault. Sakura was smart and managed to avoid national embarrassment. "Besides, my dad never tells me about his cases."

Sakura pouted, "You don't know anything? This is important."

Ino stared her down, noting the furrow in her brow and her fisted hands. The knuckles were painted red. She sighed. Sakura had a history of violent outbursts when upset. "Is it that serious?"

Sakura looked away, nodded a little and then rolled her eyes. "No."

Ino rubbed her forehead, "You're such a bad liar. I'll ask him about it when he gets home."

Sakura seemed relieved. Ino wasn't sure if she wanted to know what exactly Sakura had gotten herself into.

They lapsed into silence for a while. Ino slipped into the backroom to take off the rest of the blankets. She put a marked scale into the closet.

"Hey, so it's like 3 am and I have school tomorrow. What was so pressing that you needed to drag me from the comfort of my bed?" Sakura called. "You've got casting, correct? You know they're gonna give you a stylist right? How you show up won't matter."

Ino rolled her eyes and went back into her room, hands on her hips. "Of _course_ it matters, Forehead! Are you fucking dense?"

Sakura seemed to be expecting that type of response. She covered her mouth as she laughed, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry. What look are you going for?"

-:- -:- -:-

"You're distracted," She said, a mocking smile in her voice. Her fist just brushed past his cheekbone. He took a hasty step back and ducked down low. He used his left hand to balance as he wiped a gloved fist across his forehead. "What? Daddy didn't give you a quarter million for your allowance when he said he'd give half? I'd be upset too."

Neji grunted. He rolled into a crouch and sprang up, aiming for her jugular.

She dodged it. "I mean," She dodged another swing. "I know that the _big_ yacht was appealing but a small one would do just fine. Of course you couldn't show off as much but at least the small one still has three bedrooms."

"Tenten," Neji warned. He took off towards her but she deflected every hit.

"I mean you could _try_ saving your allowance. Then you could definitely get the big yacht. But I know how hard that may be for you."

Neji took off his glove and grabbed her wrist, stopping her advance. He glared at her, "Can you just stop for a minute?"

Tenten's nose wrinkled. She jerked her arm from his grip, "Fine." She stepped back and sat on the wrinkled and cracking mats. She took off her glove and flexed her fingers, and then she played with the bandages around her knuckles.

Neji rubbed his head and stared out cracked and dirty windows. The floor looked like it hadn't been cleaned in months. There was a thin layer of dust resting on top of it.

"I didn't know you were offended by anything," Tenten scoffed out.

"You didn't offend me, you're just annoying." He replied. He really wanted to make a comment about the floors, but Tenten would probably kill him.

"You don't have to be here, you know." Tenten said. "You obviously don't feel like fighting." She rubbed her wrist where he had grabbed her.

Neji sighed. Tenten was right; he didn't quite feel like fighting. He was thinking of too many things at once. He stared at the floor as he tried to get his thoughts in order. The dust bunnies were really distracting as well and he couldn't help himself, "When the last time these floors were cleaned?"

Tenten immediately turned red as her basketball shorts. "You come to _my_ ring, far far away from your wealth and your prestige and ask why the floors are a mess? Maybe you should invest your 250,000 dollar allowance into it. No wait-why don't you just gentrify the whole neighborhood while you're at it? Buy off the property! Stamp your name on-"

"It was just a question." Neji pinched the bridge of his nose. "It's filthy."

Tenten fumed on said dirty floor. He was waiting for the usual spiel- _Why do you come here anyway when you can afford luxury? Why don't you just stay in your rich kid neighborhood and pay your senseis to go easy on you—_

But it didn't come. Tenten just picked at the mats, rubbing her fingers through the cracks in the plastic and picking the stuffing out.

Neji was uncomfortable. He didn't know much about his sparring partner at all. All he knew was that she liked to pick fights and berate him for being wealthy. She was the daughter of the owner of the gym Neji chose to invest his time in and the only person his age that could hold her own against him. They boxed all the time-he was usually quiet while Tenten expressed her frustrations about the bourgeoisie to him. They'd kick the shit out of each other and then he'd go home, back to posh and prime and polite.

"Why do you come out here, rich boy?" Tenten finally spoke up, her voice different than her usual tone. She played with the buns atop her head and adjusted the strap of her sports bra, she looked as uncomfortable as Neji felt. They didn't "talk" to each other, at least, not when they weren't throwing fists at the same time.

Neji slipped out the ring, landing on the dirty floors. He didn't know how to answer without offending her. He knew that she would take whatever he had to say the wrong way. The silence hung between them until someone in the adjacent room started blasting rap music. Neji let the heavy, pounding bass resonate between them instead of answering.

He pulled his shirt on and re-tied his ponytail so that it sat low and perfect. Not a flyaway hair in place.

"I'll see you next week," He said. He grabbed his bag and turned away.

Tenten didn't say anything until he was almost at the door. She grinned and said, "Well, you better be ready to _fight_ this time." Her smile was wide but fake-there was something about it that made Neji look twice.

-:- -:- -:-

You know it's bad when the weekdays start blending together. Weekdays you were supposed to know what was going on. You were supposed to submit assignments, come to class, be a functional member of society. It was the weekends where you could fuck up and forget everything.

But no, Shikamaru's weekdays became weekends and weekends weekdays and he just didn't know which day was which. He didn't know which responsibility he'd completely forgotten about.

You know it's bad when the weekdays start blending together.

He looked at his phone and it blinked back the time in bright white letters at the top of the screen. 6 PM. It wasn't that late. He could still meet up with Naruto and Sasuke if he wanted to.

But he didn't want to. Not today at least. Maybe tomorrow. Maybe not even until Saturday, (tomorrow could be Saturday for all he knew at the moment) the day of the party.

He liked his bed, so he decided to stay there for a while.

-:- -:- -:-

"Hey dad," Ino hopped down the stairs when she heard him enter the shop after a long day at the police department. "How are you?"

"Tired," Inoichi said, his face lined and dark. "How was your shoot?" He began to clamor up the stairs, towards the kitchen.

"It was a casting," Ino corrected idly. She knew that her dad didn't necessarily approve of her modeling. "Hey dad," She said as they entered they kitchen together. "Aren't you working on the Orochimaru case?"

"Yes," Inoichi said a bit cautiously. "Why?"

"Oh, just curious." Ino lied. She began to make coffee. "Have any juicy details about the case?"

Inoichi pressed his mouth into a thin line and shook his head. "No, Ino."

They lapsed into silence. Ino pretended to busy herself with coffee and the dishes while Inoichi scrolled through his phone.

"Hey Dad..." She started again.

"No."

" _C'mon_ just one little detail," Ino made puppy eyes at him as she placed a cup of coffee in front of him. "I'm just so curious! Orochimaru was such an evil guy how could anyone manage to kill him-"

"Easily," Inoichi cut her off. "You know I interrogate hundreds of men like him all the time. They're not as tough as they appear."

Ino rolled her eyes. _He's not budging_. "Just one tiny detail?"

"Why do you want to know so bad?"

Ino shrugged and smiled innocently, "I'm writing a book based on True Crime."

Inoichi narrowed his eyes before shrugging, like he didn't care anymore. "It was confirmed today that Orochimaru's murder was an inside job."

"Really?" It wasn't hard for Ino to pretend like she didn't care. She didn't. This was all for Haruno Sakura, her weirdo best friend. "Why do you think that?"

"We found a note at the scene of the crime. Ran it for fingerprints but found none."

"Wait, back up," Ino put her hands on top of the table. "What did the note say?"

"Hm," Inoichi paused to think, "Said something like, 'To all those who have worked for Orochimaru: I know who you are, and I'm coming.'" Inoichi snorted, "Very cliché."

Ino frowned over her own cup of coffee, "That doesn't explain why you think it was an inside job." In fact, it said the opposite. "How do you know this person had been working for Orochimaru already?"

"Oh," Inoichi smiled at her, "Good question. Orochimaru had three _large_ guards with him during the murder. They were all heavily armed and there were no sign of forced entry. We've deducted that the only way Orochimaru could've been killed is if the killer had been in the same room the whole time."

Inoichi stood with his coffee, he patted his daughter's head and exited the room, "Good luck on your story."

"Thanks." Ino said. She was left with more questions but all of them were for Haruno Sakura.

 **AN. Sorry if this chapter seemed choppy! Not much happened but lots of insight on some characters that weren't touched on last chapter. Plot should pick up a little next chapter**

 **review!**


	4. Chapter 4

white gold lines

4

They all rolled in with high heads and pursed lips. Newcomers always acted as if they were above the whole thing, but it was only because they had never been on one of Naruto's parties before.

They filtered in one by one; through the elevators up a hundred floors to land at his Penthouse. The door was open and red light spilled into the hallway. Red light and that was all. Naruto was one for theatrics and dramatic lighting.

No one greeted them at the door but they could hear music pulsing. Bodies lay around the living room but newcomers could tell that the party's life was in another room. They navigated through maze-like rooms, striding over buttercream carpets and cherry wood floors.

Hinata felt horribly underdressed. She was wearing skinny jeans and a nice, flowy top. She wore black ankle boots with no heel when all the other girls were wearing stilettos. Her hair was slightly damp and wispy from her shower while everyone else's was pin-straight and shiny. Hands held glasses full of wine, golden beer bottles, and crystal shot glasses. The bass of the music upset her stomach and made her anxieties crash heavily in her core. Hinata felt her ears burn.

She should've come with Neji.

Neji was invited of course-he was always invited. He even hosted these events sometimes but that's because this was his friend group. Neji said he had something to do before the party, and told her that he would meet up with her later.

Her feet carried her towards the music. The lights turned from red to blue. The wood floors were covered in glitter in some places and alcohol in others.

Hinata bit her lip, looking for the host. She stumbled over an overturned Persian carpet and pushed into someone's back.

"Oh," She said when she saw who it was. "S-Sorry…"

"Hn," Uchiha Sasuke hummed his acknowledgment. His eyes were kinder under the blue light. Or was it the alcohol? Or some sort of drug? Hinata has heard rumors about him. But he was Neji's friend, so he must be nice. "Neji's little sister," He said as a realization. He really wasn't paying much attention.

"T-twin," She confirmed.

Sasuke cocked his head, "You looking for Naruto?"

She nodded, wondering how he knew. "Yeah, um I-"

A girl cut between them, sliding between their forms. She had four shot glasses in hand, all filled with yellow liquid. It looked like poison to Hinata. "Here you go." She was blonde and tall and she slipped an arm around the Uchiha.

Hinata had never seen someone touch him, so it surprised her quite a bit. Sasuke took two, raised an eyebrow at her, and asked if she wanted some of his poison.

Hinata hoped that she didn't look too perturbed. Her cheeks warmed and she shook her head, sending her damp, wispy hair around her shoulders. "M-maybe later."

Sasuke shrugged, "Ok. Well, Naruto's on the terrace."

She bowed her thanks and went in the direction of her fiancé.

-:- -:- -:-

His night started when a drunk girl took his wrist and demanded he stop looking 'so sad and dance already!'

It was annoying yet typical. He'd seen her type before. Blonde, skinny, and rich. She was a carbon copy, really. Her hair too straight, her teeth too white, her smile too wide. The glass in her bony hands spilled its contents over cherry wood floors and all she did was laugh and tell him to try some. This white white white wine with a name that would twist tongues and make minds fuzzy.

Try some.

And he did because she was pretty and he was lonely. Usually, girls of her caliber ignored him. Especially if they didn't know _who_ he was. Especially if they _did_ know who he was. Honestly, he was fucked from the start. This girl clearly did not attend his preparatory academy; otherwise she would've given up on him before she saw him.

But even girls who _didn't_ know him would simply give up after he would stand limply in the middle of the dance floor, drinking from cheap beer, blinking slowly at them as if he couldn't comprehend what to do with a girl.

Instead, this one just looked perplexed at his stoic figure and slouching shoulders, as if she was just trying to figure him out. Her drunken state made her expression a bit amusing, but Shikamaru didn't know whether to be annoyed or not. After a few minutes of looking at him, she opened his hand and placed an aluminum can inside, nodding to herself. "You look like a beer type of guy, mhm." Her slurred speech and smile made him open the drink.

She stayed by his side, as if concerned he wouldn't drink it. White wine licked the very bottom of her own glass; she took it back in one single swallow. "Being wine drunk is good for sadness. But I guess beer works too."

The Nara prodigy stared at her, perplexed. He vaguely wondered why she was still talking to him when he hadn't uttered a single word in response. When she had first grabbed him, she gave off a stupid, bubbly vibe, as if not really caring if he were _really_ sad. Now, she stood beside him, swaying to the beat, but watching him drink beer. She was giving him advice on being wine drunk and sadness, which was unlike any other blonde party girl he had ever had the displeasure of being dragged by.

She was pink in the face and dancing. Someone passed behind her and filled her glass with a new drink, this time red as her dress was.

"Red wine," She told him, as if he didn't know already.

"Who are you?" Shikamaru finally asked. He finished the beer she had so kindly given to him.

"I'm Ino," She said simply.

Most of the kids around here gave their last names too, to tell each other how important their fathers were.

"Ino what?" Shikamaru questioned, more from curiosity than genuine care.

"Yamanaka Ino," She answered matter-of-factly, as if she knew that the name would mean close to nothing to him. "And you are?" Her smile was bright, cheeks pinks, hair yellow. Colorful against the black and grey and more black that was him.

"Call me Shikamaru."

"Okay, Shi-ka-ma-ru." She did not ask for his last name. "You need another beer, Shi-ka-ma-ru." She pronounced each syllable of his name, as if trying to make sure she would remember it once she was sober. She grabbed his wrist and tugged some more, until they were in the kitchen of his good friend's penthouse.

His friend who had seemed to disappear into thin air-leaving him alone at the bar, where a drunk blonde girl had picked him up. _Damn you Uzumaki_

Not that he was complaining. Not much, anyway. The blonde girl-Ino as she told him-was not nearly as annoying as he thought she'd be.

"Do you know anyone here?" Shikamaru asked her curiously. If she did, she surely would not be hanging out with the likes of him.

"Oh sure," Ino laughed and Shikamaru did not know what was funny. "My friend Sakura invited me. We went to grade school together." Ino placed another cold can into his palms. "She said she would introduce me to her friends b _uuu_ t she's nowhere in sight."

"Oh, Haruno." Shikamaru thought of the spitfire of a girl with bright hair and a hard punch. She was one of his friends and the only one in the group who could control Naruto's amazingly loud and unorthodox methods. "I know her."

"You seem to know a lot of people," Ino observed. She had been watching people nod and pat him on the shoulders and arms as they walked past. A look of respect would flash in their eyes as they did so but Shikamaru just looked very tired.

"They know me," Was all he said. He chugged the beer and tossed it in a fluid motion. Ino watched on with a slight look of bemusement. Shikamaru shrugged, "Troublesome."

"Hm, you must go to Nara prep." She said, looking over his from. "You look like a Nara boy."

Nara Shikamaru smiled wryly and leaned against the counter. "You have no idea how right you are."

"I always wanted to go there," Ino said. "My dad wouldn't let me though, 'said I would get into too much trouble."

Shikamaru didn't doubt it. From the looks of her she could get into trouble all by herself. Shikamaru watched her down the last of her wine, wondering how many glasses she'd already had. "Where do you go?"

"Moriyama Prep," Ino answered. She wandered over to the cooler and returned seconds later with two beers, she handed one to him and began to chug her own. The painted baby blues of her nails contrasted the golden logo around the can. In fact, the baby blue contrasted everything about her; from the red of her dress to the slight vulgarity in the twist of her lips. Her hands held innocence while her aura did not.

"All girls right?"

"Yeah," Ino replied dryly. "Parties are the only way I get to see boys," She smiled idly at him and leaned against the wall with him.

Shikamaru wondered why she'd chosen to talk to him when there were tons of other, more sociable, boys around the apartment. "Moriyama's a boarding school, right?"

"Mhm." Ino didn't seem like she wanted to talk about it. They were silent for a few minutes after that. Shikamaru began to nod to the music and Ino would look at him every so often, as if perplexed by his character and lazy manner.

She drummed her fingers on the can and turned toward him, an eyebrow raised. "Do you want to dance or something?"

Shikamaru shrugged a heavy shouldered movement, as if he was completely opposed to the idea but didn't exactly want to say no. Ino grabbed his arm and pulled him to the center of the room.

"Do you know how to do this?" Ino asked him, but there was laughter in her voice.

Shikamaru's eyebrows rose and he tilted his head to the side. "No," He said simply. Sure, girls had had him to dance before, but he had always just stood there, thinking of the million other things he'd rather be doing. Besides, whenever he'd see guys dancing with girls, they'd just be standing still with a girl's butt gyrating on them.

Ino's smile became devious and Shikamaru suddenly felt like he had made a terrible mistake. She took his hands into hers and places them on her waist. "Like this."

"Then what?"

"Then just...dance. Do you know how to relax?" She kept her hands on top of his but move closer to him.

"I'm always relaxed, troublesome girl."

Something in her eyes told Shikamaru that she did not believe him. She didn't say anything though; she just wrapped her arms around his neck. "Now sway."

"Sway?" He echoed.

Ino nodded. She closed her eyes and moved to the music. Shikamaru was too surprised to do much but stare.

-:- -:- -:-

The music was pulsing and he felt a smile tug at the corners of his lips. He felt full and alive here, surrounded by friends and drinks and music. Naruto passed through the crowd in his penthouse, waving and giving hugs as he made his way towards the back of his apartment.

Naruto walked into the kitchen, shaking his head to clear his thoughts. As he reached for vodka, a hand stopped him. Uchiha Sasuke took it from his grip and brought it to his mouth in a swift motion. He took at least four shots in one go. There were muted cheers in the background and Naruto rolled his eyes, taking the bottle back and muttering, "Show off."

Sasuke shrugged and leaned against the counter. He raised an eyebrow as Naruto lined up double shot glasses. "Drinking by yourself?"

"Nah, they're for Sakura."

"Ah," Sasuke smirked. "Girl of your dreams," He kind of scoffed that part, like he thought Sakura wasn't that great.

"Fuck off, man," Naruto grunted as he poured the liquid into the glasses. "Don't you have a girl to fuck or something?"

"I could," Sasuke shrugged, and then scanned the crowd for potential conquests. "My parties usually have better girls, though."

"That's because the whole fucking fanclub gets invited-"

"I've never invited them, they just show up."

"At least I have some sort of security,"

"Well, you have to. I don't have parties at my _house_ like some type of common-"

"Yo!" Kiba slid into the kitchen with Choji in tow. Kiba threw his arms around both boys. He smiled sloppily, "Guess who's here? It rhymes with Byuga."

"Neji's not coming until later," Sasuke deadpanned, shrugging the drunk male off of him.

"No no!" Kiba stole one of Naruto's shots and took it down in one single go. "It rhymes with _Binata."_

"What?" Naruto squinted at Kiba, confused.

Choji burped and said, "Linata? Rinata? Sina-"

"Hinata," Sasuke said, saving Choji from an aneurysm, "Neji's sister,"

"Yeah," Kiba nodded, "We have homegrown together. She's real ca _-ute_."

"Homeroom." Sasuke corrected idly. "Kiba, we know who Hinata is."

"Wait?" Kiba stumbled a bit and turned to Sasuke, "You do?"

It was Naruto's turn to bring the bottle of vodka to his lips. "She's my fiancé," The vodka slipped down his throat so fast he didn't have time to feel the burn.

Kiba was so shocked that he stood completely still, his mouth open.

"Everyone knows that," Choji muttered, drunkly.

Sasuke resisted the urge to facepalm. No _one_ knew that. It hadn't been announced yet. Luckily, Choji and Kiba were practically black-out drunk and wouldn't be able to remember this entire encounter.

"Anyway," Naruto quickly changed the subject, "Did you guys see Nara?"

"No," Sasuke said, the only one coherent enough to comprehend what Naruto was saying anyway.

"Some girl-Sakura's friend-got him _drunk_ off his ass! First time I've ever seen any girl pull that off."

"That's pretty impressive," Sasuke agreed. He gestured to the vodka bottle, "You bout done with that? I need to bring a girl a drink."

"Who?" Naruto finally finished pouring the shots and handed the bottle to Sasuke.

Sasuke shrugged, "Don't know yet." With that, he took the bottle and began to walk away.

-:- -:- -:-

"Have you never been to a party before?"

Hinata jumped from her seat outside. She'd been staring blankly at her phone and nodding idly to the music.

"N-not really," Hinata admitted. "I don't usually…do this."

"Do what?" Sasuke was unusually perplexed. "You're not doing anything." He deadpanned.

Hinata looked perturbed at his response. She crossed her arms across her chest, pouting a bit. "I mean…I mean I'm _here_."

"So?"

Sasuke raised an eyebrow as the Hyuga girl immediately turned red. She was really nothing like her twin. Where Neji was calm and collected Hinata was nervous and scattered. The Uchiha cocked his head to the side, wondering how badly Neji would kick his ass if he managed to sell Xanax to Hinata.

 _She could probably get Xanax legally with the way she acts,_ The Uchiha mused as an afterthought.

Hinata sputtered in response. Sasuke just started as she turned various shades of red. "T-this isn't really my s-scene, you know."

Sasuke knew that he should feel some type of impatience with her but there was something amusing about the redness in her cheeks. "Do you drink?"

Hinata kind of shrugged. "I m-mean my father lets us drink w-wine sometimes."

"That doesn't count," He dismissed her. Soft overhead lights lit the terrace. They made Hinata's hair shine a glossy blue. "You need a shot."

Hinata turned redder. He didn't think it was possible, honestly. Hinata did not say anything about the shot so the Uchiha dropped the subject for a moment. "Did you ever find your fiancé?" He didn't know why he cared. He blamed the alcohol. Alcohol always made his lips a bit looser than usual. People preferred him when he was under the influence.

Hinata looked up, surprised. "Y-you're not supposed to know about that!" Her eyes were wide, "No one is."

The Uchiha shrugged. "The idiot is bad at keeping secrets."

Hinata fidgeted, her fingers twirling in her lap. The Uchiha's eyes were still very kind, but very unfocused as well. She didn't know why he was talking to her. She had never really had a conversation with him before and only knew him in passing. Sure, he'd be at all the galas and gatherings their social group threw, but he'd always disappear halfway through with Shikamaru, Naruto, and Neji.

It was kind of weird that they'd never talked, considering that their fathers sometimes collaborated and worked closely with each other.

"I saw him but…" Hinata trailed off, unsure of herself. She'd run into Naruto minutes after she'd spoken with Sasuke earlier that night. Naruto greeted her but was quickly distracted by a pink haired girl. Hinata knew Sakura quite well, actually. They were close acquaintances, a step away from being friends, but didn't quite know each other well enough.

"Here," Sasuke reached behind him and pulled a clear crystal bottle seemingly out of nowhere. He shook it a little and outstretched his hand out to her. His face was completely blank as he studied her reaction. "You're at a party. You're supposed to drink."

"Um...okay." Hinata didn't know why she agreed. It might've just been from the pure shock that the Uchiha was even still talking to her. She had never known Sasuke to be particularly kind…but then she hadn't known much about Sasuke at all. But still, there was something cold that a drunk Sasuke lacked. A sober Uchiha was practically made of ice; this one had melted quite a bit.

"Do you…have a g-glass?" She handled the bottle carefully, if not haphazardly.

"No," Sasuke's voice was amused. He reached behind him again and pulled a can of Sprite off the table. He set it on the table beside Hinata and said, "Here's a chaser, though."

Hinata had no idea what a chaser was. She eyed the Sprite and then the vodka. Her fingers curled around the crystal bottle and she hoped confusion didn't shine across her face. What was she supposed to do with the sprite? Pour it in the bottle?

That seemed wrong though…

The dark haired male sighed and took the bottle back from her as if he was deeply disappointed. He brought the bottle to his lips and took a shot, and then he drunk from the Sprite next to him, all in one go. "You're hopeless, Hyuga." He looked down at her as if to say, 'you don't even know what a chaser is?'

He held it out to her again, the expression on his face saying that he wouldn't offer again. Hinata took both the Sprite and the vodka.

And then she drank from them.

She'd tried vodka before but that didn't mean that the taste got any better. Her disgust must've shown on her face because the corner of Sasuke's lips twitched up. She shook her head, "T-the Sprite d-didn't actually help…"

"I know," Sasuke said. He was amused. Was she pink from embarrassment or the alcohol? It was hard to tell. Sasuke reached behind him for a second time, pulling a different bottle from the table. "Ever had Tequila?"

His intentions weren't great. Neji would surly kill him, but that was part of the fun. Uchiha Sasuke had never been this curious about a person, and he wanted to know what Hyuga Hinata had to say when she was drunk.


	5. Chapter 5

white gold lines

5

It became apparent, under the soft blue light, that Sasuke Uchiha had a dimple in left cheek. It happened when he smiled. Hinata thought the whole think was dizzying and unreal, and the world was in fact, a bit slanted.

Or wobbly. She didn't quite know how to describe it. It felt like there was a bubble or cushion pressed tightly around her head and all of her senses were muted and pulsing. Her peripheral vision was acting funny, turning too quickly and nearly blinding her. She could feel her heart beating in her palms, so at least she knew that she was still alive.

Her stomach felt full and empty and there was a dimple in Uchiha Sasuke's left cheek.

He was talking about…. something. Drunk Sasuke talked a lot, it was very strange. And even drunk, everything that came out of his mouth seemed dreadfully pretentious. He didn't even have to _try_ to be pretentious, he bathed in it, was spoon fed with it, would probably die by it.

Hinata did not know what he was talking about.

She put her head in the palm of her hand, staring. The world shook to the left and jittered back in place. Sasuke went blurry for a second and the blue light became louder before everything faded back into place. She smiled, she was warm, this felt nice.

There was gentleness in blurriness. All Hinata ever wanted to do was be soft. Softness wasn't weakness, she could never believe that. She told this to Sasuke, even if there was no context. There was never really any context to anything, don't you think Sasuke?

He stopped talking to stare. She stared back. He grabbed the bottle of vodka between them, taking the top off with his mouth. "You're weird, Hyuga." He was talking around the vodka top. He spat it out and chugged the drink.

"You look like an alien," He said when he was finished. Under the blue light, her hair looked bluer and shinier, her skin was pinker, her eyes whiter. She was glowing in the weirdest of ways. "You're not real."

Not sure if that was a compliment or not, Hinata ignored his comment.

Naruto busted onto the terrace with a gust of music and the smell of weed. His arm was around Sakura and she was laughing with her head thrown back.

Hinata said "Oh," and they all looked at her. Sasuke handed her the bottle, swirling it between them, there was only a shot of three left. Even though the world kept shifting and she felt like she was on a warped carousal already, Hinata drunk the rest of the contents of the bottle.

Sakura was delighted to see her, she shoved Naruto off of her in favor of Hinata. She landed on the side of the chair Hinata was sitting on, and wrapped an arm around her middle, saying, "Hi _naaa_ taaa! I didn't know you were going to be here."

"I didn't know either," Hinata found herself saying, which was a lie and a truth at the same time. For a second, she wondered how that could be. The blue blue lights suddenly turned red (was is sudden?) she thought that they matched the feeling in her core—not quite anger, just unrest. Anxiety. Anxiety was always red red for her and it was bright too! She couldn't just ignore it. Blue was more her speed…it was relaxing.

Sakura and Hinata had a class together. They didn't sit next to each other but sometimes did projects together, Hinata considered her a friend. Sakura's hand was squeezing her sides and her rings dug into her skin. Her laugh was loud in her ears. Hinata looked at Naruto. Naruto wasn't looking at her.

He was never looking at her. Sakura took her hand and held it in hers. She told Hinata that she was _so_ glad that she was there. Hinata thought that it was all very strange. Her skin was red from both the light and her blush. Sakura's dress was red from both the light and the color. Naruto's gaze was red from both the light and the...well….

Naruto wasn't looking at her.

Sasuke said, "You look even more like an alien now." He stood abruptly and all parties looked at him. He walked away, and it was quite a good walk, for someone drunk off his ass. He looked back when he was halfway inside, "You coming?"

He was looking at her. His dimple appeared and then disappeared. The lights turned purple. Hinata stood up, kissed Sakura on the forehead because it just felt right, and then followed the Uchiha into Naruto's apartment. It was red in there too.

"Anxiety is the color red," He said. Hinata wondered if he'd read her mind, she asked him so.

"You said it out loud you fucking dingus." Sasuke replied. He grabbed her hand and pulled her along, winding through bodies. Hinata felt very strange, not drunk strange, just…strange. She was holding hands with an Uchiha. She had never held hands with a boy before. She was so distracted by it that she didn't even get to think about how Uchiha Sasuke had just called her a dingus—an insult that should've seemed strange coming from his lips.

"Naruto is an idiot," Sasuke said. They came to another balcony on another couch with no overhead lights that changed from blue to red to purple.

"This is surreal," She said. She looked over the edge of the balcony. The ocean…the ocean was in front of her. It was so dark. It was just black. But she knew it was there. "How many balcony's does he have?" She wondered. "The other side was a city view."

"That's the surreal part?" There was the dimple again. Hinata felt jittery.

"No, not that." She leaned over to try to make out the details. She heard waves crashing. Sasuke wrapped an arm around hers and pulled her back to the couch.

"Don't fucking fall, media would have a field day." He sat across from her. "The tabloids would say, 'Youngest Uchiha fuckin murders Hyuga heir at Uzumaki apartment.'"

"I'm not the heir." Hinata just said. It was very dark on this balcony. The music from the inside only sort of echoed between them. The waves crashed again and Hinata thought that darkness could be softness.

"Hyuga _sweetheart_ then," He said. He pulled something out of his pocket.

"Not the _sweetheart_ ," She said it the way he did; softly. "either. That's Hanabi."

"What are you then?"

"What am I indeed?" She wondered, drunkly but aptly. "Aren't we all just pawns for our fathers?"

"Morbid," Sasuke sounded absolutely disgusted. He reached for her palm and dropped something into it. A small circle inside the curves of her palm. "Take it."

"What is it?" She held it between two fingers and tried to peer at him through the darkness.

"Xanax."

"Oh," She knew what that was. "Are you taking one too?"

"Of course."

"Oh," She said. She put it on her tongue. "Okay. Okay."

-:- -:- -:-

He always ended up doing all the hard work. He guessed that that was because he was the 'serious' one in the group…whatever that meant. Every one always thought that his seriousness was tied with Sasuke's but that was a lie. Sasuke was only serious in theory…. outside the façade the guy was as messy as anyone else.

Neji buttoned his shirt and brushed his hair back. He flicked his wrist to look at his watch; 40 minutes until he was supposed to be there. He wouldn't be late. He was never late.

He grabbed his bag and a jacket and jogged down the curving staircase. He passed a few rooms and dipped his head into one of their family rooms. Hanabi was sitting on the couch, painting her nails and watching some trashy reality show. "Seen Hinata?" Neji questioned. "She's not in her room."

Hanabi took a long time to answer as she usually did. She slowly put the brush on the table and turned to her older brother, "Went to some party, remember? Our brother-in-law finally invited her to one."

Neji winced at the term _brother- in-law._ Thinking of Naruto in that way made his head ache. Neji checked his watch again, idly. "Oh, right."

"Aren't you supposed to be with her? Who knows what she'll get into."

"She's a big girl, she can handle herself." Neji shrugged. Neji doubted that Hinata was doing much of anything at Naruto's place. She was far too reserved.

Hanabi just smirked, like she knew something he didn't. "If you say so."

Neji ignored her tone because Hanabi was rarely serious about anything. "Okay, well I'm going."

"To Naruto's?"

"Bye Hanabi," He breezed through the house, not giving her anymore details. Hanabi was too nosy.

Once in his car, he checked his watch again. It was nearing one am, and the party would be winding down in an hour or two. Well…Naruto's parties never truly wound down. People just tended to collapse on his floor around two or three am. Neji figured that Naruto was doing well since no one had died at his apartment yet.

The same couldn't be said for Kiba, however.

He checked his phone again before he pulled off. There was a text from Shikamaru asking if Neji was sure he would be okay going alone and another one from Naruto that was complete gibberish. Neji chucked his phone into the passenger seat and pulled off.

It took him twenty minutes to drive to the rendezvous place. He parked a couple blocks away and pulled a dark hoodie over his pressed baby-blue shirt. He made sure that the sleeves of his button down were delicately rolled so as not to cause wrinkles. Frankly, he thought that the hoodie was unflattering in many ways. He looked like a black stain with it on.

He felt as if he should be armed. It had been something he and his friends considered but nobody wanted to deal with weapons; that would mean that they were in too deep.

But Neji was the practical one. Always has been. He kept a handgun under the seat. This, he put on his person. It went under his hoodie into the lining of his pants. He hoped it wouldn't wrinkle his button down.

He slipped out his car, putting his phone in his back pocket. He checked his watch. He wouldn't be late.

Down the street stood a gas station and supermarket attachment. It was square and small. It had windows on two side walls, giving outsiders a look into the store. The store was lined with four or five shelves full of cheap snacks. The outside was all dark cement and bright red neon. The inside was full of florescent lights; it was so bright yellow that everything the light touched looked slightly green. Neji went in.

There were a few shoppers there despite the time of night. He went to the back and browsed the section of alcoholic beverages. He picked up one called _Snake Skin_. It was a clear vodka in a thin bottle with purple labeling. He carried it to the check out.

A boy that looked younger than him was working. He had tattoos sliding up the collar of his shirt. The boy saw the bottle and rose an eyebrow.

"You got an ID?"

"No," Neji answered.

"Can't sell it to you then, man."

"I don't want to buy." But he slid an envelope across the checkout counter. The envelope glowed green against the light, the check out counter was a stark contrast; bright red. "Not that, anyway."

The envelope was addressed but not with an address. The boy pursed his lips. He weighed the envelope. He stared at Neji.

"Snake Skin, then." The worker said. He began to open the bottle, "You want some before you go down?"

Neji tried to hide his relief. He shook his head under the hood of the sweatshirt. "No thank you." The guy rose an eyebrow again. Neji had to stop talking like he was rich. "That shit tastes like cat piss."

The tattooed guy shrugged and set the bottle down. "You packing?" He asked. He lifted the counter between his side and the customer side. Neji stepped over the threshold. He didn't know what that meant, so he just said, "Nah."

It would probably be easier if Kiba or Naruto were here.

The tattooed cashier's face scrunched up, "You stupid, man? Boss got fucking blasted three days ago and you ain't got a gun?"

Oh. "Uh…"

The tattooed guy laughed, hitting Neji square in the chest. He began to walk towards a door behind a shelf full of air fresheners and cigarettes. "Just kidding, bro. You know that you can't come up in here with a weapon and leave alive."

"Right." Neji didn't know what to say. He just wanted to meet with Kabuto already. Kabuto knew who he was and Neji wouldn't need to pretend around him.

The cashier led Neji down a hallway and a flight of stairs. Neji found himself inside of a strange nightclub. It wasn't very crowded; there were only a few older men and a handful of young, scantily clad girls. _Snake Skin_ stood in rows on shelves behind the bar. Neji tried not to look too disgusted.

Neji checked his watch. He was on time.

No one stared as he moved through the club with the tattooed cashier. He led Neji to a room in the back. "Kabuto—er, _Boss,_ I guess, isn't here yet. Just wait here." The transition of power was weird. He dropped the envelope on the table in front of the couch. "Make yourself comfortable."

Neji sat down. He didn't want to be comfortable. He wanted to leave. He wanted to talk about what happened to his dead plug. Orochimaru was the supplier—what were they supposed to do now that he's dead? Would Kabuto pick up the slack and keep working with them? And what of Orochimaru's murder? This was getting far too messy in Neji's opinion. He didn't sign up to sit around shady clubs nestled in the basements of gas stations.

He checked his watch. Kabuto was late.

Neji leaned against the couch. He pulled out his phone. He had another text from Naruto. All it said was _omsmdg Neji! U still doin thatwlwkjn big boy thingz?_ This wasn't that much different from Naruto's sober typing style. Neji didn't respond. He flipped to another one, this time from Sasuke from an hour ago.

All it said was _got ur twin drunk and she's an alien._

Neji paused, fingers posed over his phone. He didn't have time to process what Sasuke was telling him because he got an incoming call from Kiba of all people.

"Hyuga!"

"You're not drunk?" Neji asked immediately. Strange for Kiba to call him, even stranger for Kiba to be sober.

"Didn't drink tonight but did a dab earlier. That wore off, but that's _not_ that point."

"Right." Neji didn't know what to say. "What is the point?"

"You've got to get out of there, man!" Kiba was in a room with very loud music. There was yelling in the background. "Don't ask me why, just get in your fucking car and leave."

Neji stood immediately, feeling dread. His insides felt like the color of the florescent lights. "What happened?"

"I just said _don't_ ask why! God, do you listen, you giant dickbag?"

Kiba had a habit of leaving Neji speechless. Not in a good way, either. Neji wanted to ask why they were friends but he felt sudden anxiety in his throat.

"Alright, alright, I'm leaving." He walked towards the door, shaking in the fingers.

When he went to grab it, the door flung open. Two men barreled in. One with red hair one with blonde. They both were holding guns. The shorter redhead stared at Neji, blinking slowly.

The taller figure came foreword from the darkness. "I didn't expect anyone to be in here, un."

Neji didn't respond. He backed up and closed his phone. He wondered if he was going to die.

"Anyway, we're taking over this organization. Kabuto's dead so we figured we may as well use their resources. That _Snake Skin_ shit is fucking disgusting, though. 0/10 would not drink again, un."

Neji twitched. Dead?

"And you'll probably be needing some sort of safety from us since there's some fuckin psycho out to kill all of Orochimaru's associates, so I'll just put our number in your phone, yeah."

Protection? Neji couldn't process it all. Kabuto dead?

Why would they need protection?

The one with the big gun took Neji's phone from his open palm. He whistled while he typed and sometimes said, "whoops" when he made a spelling error. "Autocorrect doesn't think Akatsuki is a real word, un. It's kinda rude."

 **AN. Just as a PSA this is not a sasuhina centric fic, if you're here for that you will probably not enjoy a good 50% of this. While Sasuhina is a ship here im going to be focusing on a variety of characters. There will be chapters completely void of the two of them so keep that in mind.**

 **That said, hope you enjoyed this chapter! Don't forget to review**


	6. Chapter 6

Six

He wished that his friends were sober.

Neji walked through the halls of Naruto's penthouse, stepping over bodies, bottles, and trash. He knew that his neck was probably flushed red from exertion and stress and thanked god that no one would notice under all of Naruto's godforsaken red lights.

He passed through the kitchen, looking for his friends. There was no luck there so he tried one of the family rooms. He sighed in relief when he saw Kiba sitting on the floor. The Inuzuka was playing Naruto's PS4 and drinking out of a carton of milk. Neji didn't dwell on the specifics, he stalked over and tried to get Kiba's attention.

Kiba immediately jumped up when he saw Neji. He looked relieved as he set the controller down and stood up. He and Neji left the room in a hurry with Neji trying to ignore the drunken greetings people were giving him.

They stopped at Naruto's theatre room. Luckily, it was empty.

OROCHIMARU ASSOCIATE KABUTO FOUND DEAD

" _The young man was found in a dumpster not too far from Ayana's Grocery, a gas station/market that authorities are now confirming to be the location of one of Orochimaru's main clubs. Watch live footage of police raiding the gas station now..."_

The camera cut to a police officer dragging the tattooed cashier out.

" _Reports say that the gas station/club had been raided before police could get there. Police say that over two hundred fifty thousand dollars' worth of drugs were stolen by who they say are apart of an opposing gang. Authorities are investigating the second gang involved. Konoha 7 News is hoping to obtain the security tapes…"_

"Wild," Kiba said as he drunk milk straight out of the carton. "I'm gonna have to do another dab after this."

Neji didn't respond. He rubbed his forehead in a vague sort of annoyance at Kiba.

"And some guys—Akatsuki? Gave you their number for 'protection?' What the fuck does that mean?"

"My question exactly. We'll have to talk about it when everyone's sober, I guess."

Kiba shrugged and reached for a bottle of something brown. "Well, you've got some catching up to do. Forget about all the Orochimaru shit for now."

Neji wasn't sure he could do that, but he opened the bottle despite himself. "By the way, have you seen my sister? I got a weird text from Uchiha…"

Kiba shrugged, "No clue man. Haven't seen her all night. But if she's with Uchiha…" Kiba wiggled his eyebrows. "You know how Sasuke is."

Neji felt his neck begin to heat up and turn red; it was the only way anyone could tell that he was upset. He immediately got to his feet to search for his twin.

-:-

Things were slow still. Slower.

Still.

Things were slow and still. Still. Things were slow.

Still.

She couldn't quite move. She wondered what it was that the Uchiha had given her. She wondered why she had taken it. Things were slow still.

And dark. She felt as if she were in a box, but not. The wind blew from the sea, the sea crashed against the shore. The shore was not still but the crashing was slow. It was a rhythmic rush of water that she could hear from hundreds of floors up. A crash and a pause a crash and a pause. It was soothing.

She wanted to swim but things were slow and still.

The stars peaked out from under red clouds. The clouds were always red here; something about light pollution, but tonight they parted and let her peak at what they hid. Of course, only a few stars were visible. Light pollution, light pollution.

She wanted to go to the mountains, to the desert, to anywhere but here but things were slow and still.

But she felt calm here. Calm in a way that was all encompassing and suffocating. If it were possible-it seemed impossible to be suffocatingly calm. She felt as if the night were a blanket and the blues and reds were pulled over her head, burying her. She felt as if she had drowned in the deepest part of the ocean and could not move. If she were the tide would she be able to feel the pull of the moon?

Impossible. No way. Things were slow and still.

Hinata wondered over Sasuke. Was he still there? Was he under a starry blanket as well? She craned her neck and focused her eyes; he was there on the couch with her. His eyes were closed and his breathing was close. She could feel his warmth but couldn't touch it. She couldn't move so she marveled over long eyelashes dusting over high cheeks. She thought of the Uchiha family and its long history of scandals and fighting. She wondered how Uchiha Sasuke was born from a silver platter and raised to be great.

Of course, thinking of Sasuke made her think of Naruto. Of course. Of course. She thought of his eyes and his hair and his smile. She thought of their marriage; a life together. She thought of how she was forced on him to create forced collaboration between men. She thought of her dreams, thrown away and stepped over. She wanted to do so much more, she could do so much more.

So, she thought of Sakura. Sakura was proud and strong and smart. She had goals and dreams and the will to carry them out. Sakura's voice was always sure and steady. Her eyes were always confident. Hinata thought of Sakura, not in the context of Naruto, but in the context of achievement. Hinata thought and thought.

She though until she stopped thinking.

And things were slow and still.

-:-

Kakashi sighed, his one visible eye rolling in distaste. "Don't double dip, Asuma."

Asuma paused in his movement. The half-eaten chicken nugget hovered over a cup of barbecue that was shared between them. "You're not even eating. You won't take off that godforsaken medical mask."

"I don't want to get sick," Kakashi said in a way that almost sounded like whining. "And it matches my eye patch."

Asuma snorted and ate the rest of the chicken nugget barbecue-less. "I can't believe we got assigned here. We should be out raiding Orochimaru's."

Kakashi shrugged, turning in his swivel chair. "It's cold out so I don't mind this." He turned to the many TVs sitting in front of them, watching the security tapes play through. Each TV featured a different angle of the outside of the gas station. He yawned and focused on the TV in the upper right hand corner.

"Don't we have interns for this?" Asuma ate another chicken nugget. He reclined in his seat and put his feet on the desk.

"We have interns?" Kakashi questioned.

Asuma shrugged and they lapsed into silence; both attempting to do their jobs and keep their eyes open.

A movement on the TV screen to the left made Kakashi pause. He sat up, "Pause TV three."

Asuma did as he asked and noticed the same figure that Kakashi had. He zoomed in on the face. The figure was clad in all black and was covered in a hoodie. Despite the effort to remain anonymous, the camera still picked up half the man's face.

Kakashi leaned back, his visible eye crinkling as he smiled under the mask. "What was Hyuga Neji doing there at such an odd hour?"

-:-

 _AN. Decided on a short chapter to get things moving—been learning that less is more._

 _Also? Don't ask (rude) questions if Im not able to respond to them please? Its sorta annoying ngl. someone asked why I tagged it with sasuhina if its not sasuhina centric….i actually tagged it with multiple things (as many characters as FF would allow) and put the pairings in the summary so….maybe brush up on your critical thinking skills idk_

 _Ill try to update soon! As of now there's no set plot and im experimenting. This might get messy_

 _Review! And happy new year!_


	7. Chapter 7

Seven

The next morning, Sakura found herself sitting next to Neji with a laugh stuck in the back of her throat. The poor guy looked like he'd been through hell, and he probably had from the news of Kabuto's death.

Still, it was kind of amusing to see Hyuga Neji, the perfect human, sitting grumpily with black coffee and disheveled hair.

"Don't laugh at me, Haruno," He muttered darkly. One of Naruto's maid refilled his coffee cup and left without a word; she stepped over a couple teenage forms laying in the kitchen before going into the next room.

"What do you mean? I'm not laughing," Sakura turned her lips downward so that she could look super-serious. She grabbed her own coffee, "Lets go to the terrace."

Neji nodded and the both of them stepped over the same sleeping bodies the maid had. Sakura didn't understand how the maids tolerated all of this; the parties, the unconscious teenagers, the mess that was Naruto Uzumaki. She guessed that they had fat paychecks.

Once they stepped onto one of Naruto's many terraces Sakura collapsed on a lawn chair. She brought the steaming cup to her lips, "What a night, huh Neji?"

He snorted and sat beside her, "You don't know the half of it." He looked annoyed at the thought of last night. "We have a lot to talk about."

"I figured," Was Sakura's tired response. With both Orochimaru and Kabuto dead they were stuck in the deadliest kind of stalemate; they had no idea what to do next.

They were silent after that. Sakura and Neji usually didn't talk much and when they did they never had long conversations. Their friendship was simple and reassuring; it was a quiet one that didn't require much work.

"Have you seen Shikamaru?" Neji asked after a couple minutes. "I didn't see him at all last night. He skip out again?"

At this, Sakura smirked. "No, he was here. He left with my friend Ino, though." This amused her greatly. Ino and Shikamaru? It was so bizarre that it could work.

"Oh," Neji said in a way that implied he didn't really care that much.

Speaking of their friends…Sakura turned to Neji, "Have you seen Kiba, or Sasuke, or Naruto?" as an afterthought she added, "…or Hinata."

After that question, Hyuga Neji turned an interesting shade of red. Sakura didn't know what to do so she pretended to be really interested in the color of her coffee. After a few seconds of more silence, Neji finally said, "Uchiha got my sister drunk so I woke him up and kicked his ass. Then he got mad and left with Kiba and Naruto...haven't seen them since."

"Huh," Sakura said in a way that implied she was stupefied by the entire ordeal. She didn't ask Neji anymore questions because she knew he wouldn't give any more answers. Instead, she checked her Snapchat. As she predicted, she had several snaps from Naruto from only a few hours before. After clicking through the first few drunken selfies, Sakura stumbled upon a photo of Sasuke. He was pale, bleary eyed, and his nose was dripping blood. Naruto's caption said _look ho got rekT!_ Sakura clicked her phone again and the next photo was one of Sasuke angrily walking down the street, bruising evident along his cheek bone. The next and last snap was a blurry picture of red and blue lights.

"Oh," Sakura said after a moment. "Got it."

-:- -:- -:-

Uchiha Sasuke woke up vaguely angry. He wasn't sure what about but he knew he was angry. It may have been because he woke up on the floor of a holding cell.

"The hell…" He sort-of said. Sort-of, because his voice came out scratchy and it hurt to move his facial muscles.

"Good morning sleepy head." That was Kiba. Sasuke turned his head and was greeted by the sight of the loudmouthed Inuzuka. Sasuke may not have known why they were in jail but he knew that he should be blaming Kiba.

Sasuke hated his life and he felt like vomiting. He turned his head and looked out into the police precinct, there were a couple officers there ignoring them and drinking coffee. Sasuke turned his head again, trying to ignore his raging headache, and sought out his blonde best friend. Naruto laid in a heap on the floor looking as if he were made of jelly. Sasuke sighed.

"Uzumaki's still sleep," Kiba said unhelpfully from his place on the metal bed. "He might be dead, who knows at this point."

The Uchiha didn't reply. He tried to think of what transpired the night before. He remembered the vodka, he remembered blue light and…Neji's sister, and he remembered being punched in the face. Twice.

He didn't think the fight was fair (whatever it was about) because clearly he was debilitated and unable to move correctly. Neji wasn't the type of guy to fight dirty…Sasuke wondered what exactly he did to piss him off _that_ much.

Then he remembered anger and then police. That explained where he was, just not how he got there.

He hated having holes in his memory. He tasted dried blood on his upper lip. He wondered over Neji's twin sister.

He remembered her in moments. A nervous smile on the terrace, a blue haze under blue lighting, a black stain against the backdrop of the ocean. He couldn't remember what they did but he guessed that he didn't fuck her. If he had, he probably wouldn't live to tell the tale.

Oh well, Sasuke leaned back against the cement floor, it would've been sort of funny if he did.

He glared at the ceiling of the cell, right into the florescent light and said, "Can someone call my fucking lawyer?"

-:- -:- -:-

It wasn't that Shikamaru had never woken up next to a girl before—he had. Its just that…he had never woken up next to a girl and not be _annoyed_ with her.

Instead something else was bubbling in his stomach. He felt hot, but pleasantly so, and it had everything to do with the body laying across his chest.

Ino's hair was spread around her shoulders and over her chest—it was very long and because of it Shikamaru was reminded of a mermaid. She was also a cuddler—something else Shikamaru had been annoyed with when it came to other girls—with her it was welcome. Her arm was tight around his middle, her legs tangled in his. Limbs wrapped tight, he was her prisoner, he couldn't even begin to care.

He was so entranced by this girl that he had forgotten his hangover. It all came crashing back when the knocking at his bedroom door became persistent. He groaned and almost tried to roll over. He didn't want to wake up Ino and he didn't exactly want to move.

"Shikamaru-sama," Hama, one of his maids called through the door, "Don't make me come in there!"

Shikamaru did groan then. He wouldn't put it past Hama to burst in the room. She'd done it before when Shikamaru had had a girl over and she barely even noticed her. She had just pulled the curtains open and started listing the things on Shikamaru's schedule, ignoring the couple's bewilderment.

He slowly untangled himself from the mess that was Ino and quickly put on a pair of underwear. He pulled his comforter over Ino's (still sleeping) form and yawned. He moved lethargically, feeling like the entire world was on his shoulders.

Just as he was about to open the door, Hama banged it open, an annoyed twist to her lips. "You've got a girl in here," She said.

Shikamaru could barely put words together, he was so hungover. He just moved out of her way, knowing that Hama would barge in anyway. He's got to remember to _lock_ his bedroom door. He just nodded to her and went back into his room behind her.

Ino woke up just as Hama was opening the blinds, sufficiently setting his brains on fire and stopping any type of thought process he was attempting to start up again. "Jesus," He muttered.

Hama just smacked her lips, shaking her head. She didn't even acknowledge Ino.

Ino sat there, looking as hungover as Shikamaru felt. Her hair cascaded around her shoulders in waves and for what its worth, she still looked amazing.

She also didn't look too concerned about Shikamaru's maid's appearance. She just wrapped the blanket around her chest and laid back down, blissfully unbothered.

Shikamaru wished he could reach that level of chill. Sure, he _tried it._ He'd say, "That was bothersome" and fall asleep on the spot, but in reality he was wound up a bit too tight. The aloofness was a side affect of something much bigger.

"Did you take your pills?" Hama questioned.

Shikamaru shook his head, sat at the foot of the bed and leaned forward. He stiffened when a warm foot began to poke him press against his back. lno laughed lightly under the covers.

"I just woke up, Hama." Shikamaru sighed. "I'll take them soon."

"Take them now," She demanded and went into his bathroom. "You have a history of not doing things that you should."

Yeah, like taking those pills.

"Fine," Shikamaru sighed. He took the pills she handed to him, noticing an extra orange one. Ah, pain killers. He swallowed them dry and sighed again. "Is there breakfast?"

"Well, your parents are out—"

"As usual."

"But I can have Kaneki cook something, if you like." She began to pick up Ino's discarded clothing and placed them on the end of the bed, holding Ino's tiny blue panties at arms length. "Just for you, I'm assuming?"

Ino wiggled and Shikamaru tried not to think of her body, naked and under his sheets. He immediately turned red. "F-for two." _Damn_ , he stuttered. Nara Shikamaru did not stutter.

Hama raised an eyebrow, "That's a first," She walked out of the room. "Breakfast will be ready in about forty minutes." She shut the door behind her.

After she left, Shikamaru felt Ino move behind him. His face felt hot and his body immediately felt hotter when he felt Ino's flesh against his. "Forty minutes, huh?" Her fingers moved towards his chest, "We've got time."

 _This girl is going to kill me_ , Shikamaru thought. He had barely turned around fully before his mouth was on hers.

 _An. A sort of short something._


	8. Chapter 8

Eight

The festivities had died down and Sakura was left to deal with the mess that came after. Neji had left with Hinata shortly after he and Sakura had talked (Hinata had woken up bleary and confused, it seemed she didn't remember most of last night), Ino had gone off with Shikamaru at some point during the night, and the rest of them were in jail.

That left her in a house full of classmates and strangers alike, who had chosen to crash on Naruto's living room floor.

It was interesting business throwing parties in high-rises. Five years ago, Sakura would've never thought that she would be participating in this particular type of culture. It nauseated her sometimes…thinking about how drastically her life had changed. The jump to privilege was jagged and unorthodox—not that she didn't appreciate it—it just caused this strange cognitive dissonance whenever she went to do something that rich kids did.

She thought it weird that the maids asked if she wanted breakfast instead of just kicking her out. Sakura declined even though her stomach rumbled; it just felt too weird. Maybe she'd stop at McDonalds on the way home or something.

She went around the house, stepping over bodies, trying to collect the things she recognized as her own and her friends'. Kiba's phone was laying inside a bowl of water and she opted on leaving it there. She found Ino's coat and Sasuke's watch among the wreckage and put them aside with her purse to return later.

As she was about to leave a hand caught her sleeve, she turned to see one of her fellow rich kids laying on a loveseat. "Hey Haruno, ya'll still selling?"

"Selling what?" She sighed, wanting to leave now more than ever.

"Blow," He answered, his voice scratchy, "I'm trying to do some before I leave."

Sakura sighed again and put her stuff down. "Didn't get enough from last night?"

"What can I say?" The boy smiled, "A junkie's a junkie a junkie."

"Right…" Sakura rolled her eyes. "I'll be right back."

She went into Naruto's bedroom and search inside his massive closet. There was a piece of the wall that had been removed and in it held some of their supply. Naruto had an entire brick stashed in there (Sakura thought that that was a very very bad idea but no one listened to her) and some smaller bags for distributing. Sakura fingered a small bag of cocaine and returned to the boy.

He blearily smiled at the sight and they quickly made the transaction. Sakura left Naruto's home before she had to see him use.

-:-

Hinata woke to a pair of white eyes glaring at her so she rolled over and pretended that they weren't there.

Her head pounded and her stomach felt like it had just been doing jumping jacks inside of her ruined body. She didn't know if she was nauseous or hungry, only that if she were to move she would die a quick death.

If Neji didn't kill her first, of course.

Man, was he starring her _down._ She could feel his gaze on the back of her neck where her head bended to hide under blankets. She wanted to say some words to him to soften the blow of his anger, but when she opened her mouth she smelled vodka and tasted vomit and that was when she realized that she had…actually vomited.

"Oh…" She said as a realization. "Oh this is gross. Oh no." Her words came out simply, it was all that she could truly process. She didn't even know if Neji was still in the room.

"Come here," She heard Neji sigh and he placed his hands on her shoulders, leading her away from her bed. He walked her to the bathroom and helped hold her hair back as she threw up some more.

"Neji, you don't have to do this," Hinata tried to shrug him off. "T-this is too much, g-go away." Her face was already flushed red from exertion; she couldn't imagine that it would be able to get redder from embarrassment.

Neji didn't respond. He sat on the edge of the tub as he waited for her to finish, and handed her a cup of water to gargle when she was done.

"Did you have fun at least?" He asked, but Hinata could hear the dryness in his tone. She was almost glad that she retched again, to save from answering.

She could barely remember anything––she didn't know if she'd had any fun!

"You don't remember, do you?" He asked, holding her hair back from her face. She was all red all over and Neji almost felt bad for her. Almost.

Hinata shook her head against his hand and then wiped her mouth with the back of her hands. She sat back and rinsed her mouth out with the cup of water. "Was I a mess?"

"You are right now," Neji said, dropping her hair. He sat across from her on the bathroom floor, legs crossed to mirror hers. "But I wasn't there for most of the night, so I wouldn't know."

"Where were you?" Hinata questioned. She got her toothbrush and began to scrub her teeth while remaining on the floor.

"I accidentally napped," Neji lied easily. "Had a long day."

Hinata hummed and finished brushing her teeth. The twins moved into her room after she finished up with the bathroom and Hinata plopped back down in her bed, now vomit-free after a maid had taken care of it. She just wanted to sleep more but it didn't come easily. Her stomach was still uneasy, so she pulled out her phone to scroll though Twitter. What she saw highlighted on her timeline shocked her, she turned to her brother, incredulous.

"Why did you fight Sasuke?"

Neji looked up from his place on her couch. He swiftly walked across the room and grabbed her phone from her fingers. Neji rubbed his chin as he watched the video play, "Huh," He said. "I didn't realize someone had recorded this. Uchiha is gonna be pissed."

Hinata took her phone back apprehensively. In the video, Neji held up a slouching Uchiha and punched him in the face. Twice. Hinata winced each time, and turned her head as videoSasuke wrestled sloppily out of Neji's grip. As the video restarted, Hinata caught a glimpse of a girl sleeping peacefully next to Sasuke right before he was yanked up by Neji.

"Is that…me?" She dared to ask; the camera had only focused on her for half of a second.

"Yeah," Neji said. "That's why I fought Sasuke."

Hinata didn't know what he meant and she didn't get to ask because Neji was already walking out of her room, texting away.

-:-

"Why are we still here?" He was annoyed, cold, and hungry. Sasuke could only stand being in Naruto and Kiba's combined presence for so long before he blew his fucking brains out. The two idiots were having a whispered rap battle at the back of the cell.

Whispered, half because the cops kept telling them to shut up and half because the guy next cell over threatened murder.

They didn't answer. Naruto was trying to rhyme Naruto with Baruto (" _yeah my name's Naruto don't mistake me for Baruto. If you ask how big my dick is I'll tell you very mucho.")_

Sasuke tried again, "What happened last night?"

Kiba stopped mid-rap ( _"mucho y macho my dick's my muchacho. Walk around the club and the chicas all go wacko–)_ "You fought a cop and Naruto got caught with an ounce."

Sasuke didn't remember fighting a cop, but he had to admit, it was possible. It was even more possible that Naruto had had an ounce of weed on him, helping further incriminate them all. Sasuke sighed and leaned against the wall, he wondered over the tabloids and how his face was probably plastered over ever magazine and twitter feed by now. He really wanted his phone, at least to distract him from Kiba and and Naruto.

It was strange that his parents hadn't come to retrieve him yet. But then again, Sasuke had no concept of time inside of a jail cell. For all he knew, it was only four in the morning and nobody was awake to get his call.

It was still annoying though. His parents' assistants should always be aware of urgent calls, no matter what time.

His thoughts shifted to Neji's twin sister. The longer he was awake, the more he remembered about her. Sasuke found her strange and somewhat unreal, like everything about her was a mirage. It was rare to find someone like her mixed up with wealth and prosperity, because everything about the wealthy was always crystal clear. She wasn't, however, she was something hazy and uncertain, moving through Naruto's penthouse like a dream.

She was still engaged to the idiot, though. That was something clear and concrete enough for Sasuke, even if the engagement wasn't common knowledge.

Something was bothering him, but he didn't know what it was. Sasuke didn't get a chance to contemplate, however, as the cell door was being opened by a cop.

Naruto sprang up, thinking it meant freedom, only to sit back down again as he casts his eyes on the person standing next to the officer.

It was a shaggy red-haired boy with dull green eyes and a forehead tattoo. Sasuke rose an eyebrow as he was let into the cell. The redhead barely cast the three of them a glance as he walked over to the bench across the room.

Sasuke shifted to get a good look at the new guy, while Naruto immediately stuck his nose in his business.

"What are you in for?" Naruto questioned.

The guy didn't answer. He frowned heavily at Naruto, looking disgusted. When he spoke, his voice came out gravely, like he hadn't spoken in years. "You're that Uzumaki kid."

Naruto shrugged half-heartedly, "Yeah, so?"

The redhead glanced at the three of them, this time a smirk lighting his features. He leaned back against the wall. "Oh."

Sasuke twitched in annoyance at the non-response. He stood, "What's that supposed to mean?"

The redhead shrugged again, crossing his arms across his chest. "Everyone knows you're all working for Orochimaru. You're done for."

-:-

"So," Ino flipped her hair back and pulled her panties up, a smirk on her face. "You've had a lot of girls over?"

"Uh," Shikamaru scratched his head, "Not that many,"

"Enough that your maid—"

"Hama," He corrected.

"Hama-san didn't bat an eye at me." Ino said as she buckled her bra. She looked at her dress in distaste and turned to Shikamaru, raising her eyebrows, "Can I borrow a shirt?"

Shikamaru gave a nod and handed her a button up shirt as he thought about how respectful of Hama Ino was being. Usually girls completely ignored her or even talked down to her. Ino put on his shirt and it fell mid thigh. "I'm assuming these girls don't stay until breakfast, either? Want me to leave?"

Shikamaru rolled his eyes at her mischievous smile, "You know the answer to that. I think I actually may like you a bit."

"A bit?"

"You're troublesome, but somehow worth it." He said, shoving a shirt over his head. "I figured that the first girl who managed to get me drunk has to be somewhat worth it."

Ino laughed, "You've never gotten drunk?"

Shikamaru just smiled, "That's not what I said. I just don't let women convince me into getting shitfaced."

"I had you pinned right, then." Ino said, "Brooding type. Quiet. Only drinks hard liquor around friends—usually male.

"Am I that obvious?" Shikamaru exited his bedroom, Ino in tow. "I don't brood, though. I'm just painfully lazy."

"Is that why Hama-san has to burst in here?"

"Almost every morning."

She laughed again and fell into step beside him. Shikamaru glanced down at her and noticed that her eyes were wide in wonder. Shikamaru lived in a large house in the center of Konoha. It was designed with crazy expensive furniture and had big windows, a pool, and a garden to top it all off. A place this big in the middle of the city had to be insanely expensive. Ino shook her head as she noticed a vase that had to be worth more than her tuition at Moriyama. "Big house," She commented. "Do you have any siblings?"

"Just me," Shikamaru said, shaking his head. "And my parents, but they're never here."

"Where do they go?" Ino questioned, biting her lip instead of biting her tongue. She had a bad habit of getting into other people's business.

"My mom is usually in town, but she's really busy with work so I rarely see her anyway. Right now she's in America for a conference on international education," Shikamaru shoved his hands into his pockets. "My dad is really busy—he's a world renowned scholar and has a bunch of business stuff. He's always gone."

"Hm," Ino frowned, she looked around the house, noting that the giant windows must seem daunting after the sun sets. "Must get pretty lonely."

"I'm a cliche," Shikamaru shrugged again and steered her into the dining room.

Ino smiled thinly, "Aren't we all?"

But Shikamaru couldn't see what was cliche about her. All he could see was that she was pretty and he was lonely and maybe that should've been the first clue all along.

-:-

It was around midnight when Ino decided that she had to go. Her dad was a police officer and had to start work at three. She wanted to be home before he woke up to start to get ready, because unlike Shikamaru, there were consequences for her actions. (she didn't say that, though.) Instead, she rolled over and touched his face, her smile wide and blinding and perfect as she kissed the tip of his nose. She said, "That was fun," and Shikamaru had uttered, "Just fun?"

And she said, "I know about boys like you, Nara Shikamaru."

Ah, so she had finally learned his last name.

And she said, "I am the result of what happens when two worlds collide so drastically."

He hadn't understood. He frowned, and even though he was a genius, the only thing he could think to say was, "But you go to Moriyama." A rich school. A _really_ expensive school. It almost rivaled his parent's prep school—it was the single sex alternative to Nara. Was she on scholarship?

She smiled again, "I do,"

"I don't understand," Shikamaru sighed, his heart pounding heavily. His eyes were closed. He didn't want her to go. He wanted to say it out loud, but his mouth wouldn't say the words. The whole ordeal was already so troublesome; did he really want to get involved in something like this?

Ino was spontaneous at best volatile at worst, he'd seen it in the short amount of time they had spent together. Did he need that in his life? Sure, she was beautiful, but he didn't know anything else about her.

After a moment, Ino rolled over and off the bed, and Shikamaru's mouth began to move, a line so cliche that his head hurt, "But I'm not like the other guys."

"You're not," she admitted, and that was all she said.

At long last, he felt annoyance. Ino was talking in circles and he wasn't interested in playing tag with her. If she wanted to leave and forget that all this ever happened, fine. He was in no position to stop her. "Troublesome."

Ino had just smiled and slipped her dress over her shoulders. She hadn't offered parting words or a smile, she just left quietly.

Later, Shikamaru found himself in front of the giant windows Ino had been enthralled in. _Daunting_. She'd called them. Shikamaru thinks that there was some truth in that statement.

 _An okay chapter. Sorry for dropping off the face of the Earth, I still don't know where this is going. It'll be fun, though._

 _EDIT: Just realized I posted the same section twice? For some reason. I had written the ShikaIno bits ages ago so I didn't realize where I put everything. Anyway, enjoy! (PS thanks to those who pointed my error out to me)_


	9. Chapter 9

nine

The next day was Monday and he arrived more hung-over than he was Sunday. He had considered ditching but he'd already ditched his Sunday classes, he didn't want his parents to yell at him for something else.

Shikamaru went straight to his locker, not bothering to talk to anyone or even return greetings. Eventually Kiba and Sasuke walked up to him and leaned beside him. Shikamaru nodded at them and Kiba said, "What's up with you man? You look more tired than normal."

Sasuke said nothing. He just rolled his eyes and pulled a bottle of ibuprofen from his pocket.

"You keep that in your pocket?" Kiba questioned loudly.

"I asked him to bring some," Shikamaru said. He popped two in his mouth, "Anyone seen Sakura?"

KIba looked confused, as if wondering _why_ he would've seen the pink haired powerhouse. Sasuke just shrugged, "Naruto was harassing her a few minutes ago. She'd just went into the broadcast studio."

"Why do you want her?" Kiba asked. He scratched one of the tattoos on his cheeks. "She's kinda annoying in the mornings, doncha think?"

"So are you," Shikamaru said at the same time Sasuke was giving Kiba a halfhearted sound of agreement.

"Wow, you're in a bad mood today," Kiba whistled.

The Nara genius found himself frowning and Sasuke said, "You better leave before he decks you. The guy may be made of straw but his punches are nothing to fuck with."

Shikamaru frowned at the 'made of straw' comment but shook his head. Sasuke was easy to deal with, he didn't say much unless he had to and generally wasn't annoying. Shikamaru, Uchiha, and sometimes even Neji had formed some sort of bond through just knowing when to _shut the fuck up._ Kiba and Naruto, on the other hand, had bonded simply because they hadn't yet acquired that skill.

"Okay, okay, I get it. The Brooding Bros want to sulk in silence," Kiba cackled to himself, "I gotta go meet up with Lee anyway. See you later."

"Brooding Bros is new," Sasuke muttered.

"He's never going let that one go," Shikamaru sighed. "Almost as good as 'The Crying Cunts'."

"Bawling Bitches," Sasuke suggested in a monotone.

"Disgruntled Douches,"Shikamaru countered.

"Forlorn Fuckers,"

"Dicks in Despair,"

"Petulant Pussies,"

"That was a good one," Shikamaru admitted. "Worth it, too, because Neji punched him for it."

They pair entered the broadcast room only to see Naruto sitting beside Sakura with a smile big enough to slice his face in half.

Sasuke snorted behind him, as if trying to disguise his laugh. Shikamaru could relate, because from the looks of this, Naruto was in _deep_.

"Hey guys," Sakura turned towards them as soon as they entered, as if anxious to get away from Naruto. "What's up? Got a message for the morning announcements?"

"No," Shikamaru said, "I just came to ask you something."

"Oh," Sakura looked surprised. She leaned back in her seat, "What's up?"

"Can you, um," Shikamaru suddenly looked uncomfortable. "Can you tell me about your friend, Yamanaka Ino?"

"Dude!" Naruto stood up, eyes wide, "You totally took that chick home!"

Everyone in the room ignored him.

-:-

What she saw first was his black eye. It bloomed purple around his cheekbones and eyebrows, and made his glare all the more frightening. Next she saw a busted lip, a quick scowl, a flash of teeth. Hungry. Predatory.

Hinata didn't know what to do about him, about him, about the situation. Sasuke stopped in front of her lunch table and slunk down into the seat across from her. His plate was filled with green and red things. He had three glasses of water.

"Do you always eat lunch alone?" He asked as he scooped salad onto his fork.

"Uh," Hinata didn't quite know what to say to him. "I always e-eat alone."

"Why?" Sasuke cocked his head, sounding unconcerned as he picked tomatoes out of the greenery to eat them plain. He was giving Hinata anxiety just by being there.

"B-because," Hinata tried to swallow but found that her throat was dry. "I l-like being alone."

"That's code for 'I don't have any friends,'" the Uchiha replied. 

Hinata was taken aback by his bluntness and the harshness of his words. Her cheeks bloomed red, her teeth pressed harder against her lips. She didn't know what to do about him, about him, about the situation.

"I––" she wanted to argue, she wanted to tell him that he was being rude, but she found that she couldn't find the words to do so.

She didn't have any words for him. She could just barely remember interacting with him at Naruto's party. She had glanced upon her own hazy figure in the snapchat stories of strangers, and read about her night via Twitter. She didn't like that he knew things that she didn't, things that had apparently happened between the two of them. Things that Neji had punched him for.

Sasuke sat back in his seat, watching her watch him. "You're not used to people talking to you like that, are you?" He leaned foreword and stole a French-fry off of her plate. "When people speak frankly. Honestly. It must suck being coddled. Does Neji do it too?"

"I-I don't k-know what you're t-talking about," Hinata muttered, feeling faint.

"You were different at the party," Sasuke said, this time sounding resigned. "Different enough to make me curious. But I'm just bored now." He stood swiftly, taking his plate of green stuff with him.

She wanted to ask why it was her job to be _interesting_ to him, but the words got caught in her throat last minute. Hinata watched him make his leave, but he stopped a few steps away.

Sasuke returned with a smirk and dropped a fisted hand low over her plate. When he moved, Hinata saw four small blue pills winking at her. Sasuke said, "For the road," and then he was gone.

Hinata put the Xanax in her pencil case. She finished her fries alone.

-:-

Neji was in his fourth period advanced comparative literature when he got pulled out of it. An office aide gave a note to the professor and sent Neji walking down empty hallways and to a mahogany paneled room.

Two rumpled men sat next to each other at an oak table. Neji took in their wrinkled collared shirts, coffee stained papers, and undone hair. Badges hung from around their necks next to their Nara Academy issued 'visitor' passes and Neji couldn't help but scowl. He texted his father as he sat across from them before slipping his phone into his back pocket.

"Gentlemen," Neji said, as he situated himself in a high-backed chair. The three of them were sitting in one of the school's many conference rooms. This one was adorned in expensive woos and extravagant light fixtures. Paintings of Elder Nara's filled the back wall behind the two detectives. Neji felt the eyes of the Naras on him, and wondered if the detectives could too.

"Good afternoon Hyuga. I'm Detective Hatake and this is my partner, Detective Sarutobi. We're here in regards to the incident at Ayana's Grocery, are you familiar with what happened?"

"No sir, I am not," Neji answered. The officers' expressions didn't change, and they all regarded each other calmly. Neji thought that they were weird, but they didn't scare him. One was chain smoking and extinguishing his cigarettes on the table and the other had a shock of grey hair and a face mask. He sighed.

Hatake's visible eye crinkled in what could've been a smile—Neji wasn't sure. "Well we have a video of you entering the store in question. We need you to answer some questions about that night, you know, housekeeping and all."

"Housekeeping," Neji repeated.

"Details," Hatake reiterated, as if he thought Neji didn't understand. He continued on, talking around his mask. "What were the you doing there in the first place?"

"I needed gas," Neji said.

"Why did you go in?" The one called Sarutobi asked, putting the cigarette aside. "Couldn't you have paid at the pump with your fancy little black card?"

Neji felt the urge to roll his eyes. He shrugged instead, "I needed to break a hundred."

"They don't accept bills larger than 50," Hatake said.

"So I found," Neji replied.

"Why were you even in that neighborhood?"

Neji leaned back "Am I under investigation, detectives?" Neji slid his phone out of his pocket and sat it on the table between them. "If so, I can have my lawyer here in minutes."

"You're not under investigation, kid." The masked one sighed. "This is protocol."

Sarutobi was lighting another cigarette when an office aide entered the conference room, holding a cordless phone. He looked from his cigarette to the phone being held in front of him, "What's this?"

The aide shrugged before taking a swift leave.

"Hm." Hatake said. Sarutobi put the phone on speaker. "Hello?"

"Gentlemen," Hyuga Hiashi said in the exact same was Neji had. "I must ask that you do not take my son out of class just to ask him some questions about an investigation of which he has no part of."

Hatake's eyes crinkled up more, if possible. "May I ask with whom I'm speaking?"

Hiashi chucked through the phone, "Hyuga Hiashi."

The two men were silent for a beat and Neji leaned back triumphantly. Sarutobi answered, "Hyuga-san, this is protocol."

"I don't care about your protocol. Neji has more important things to do than talk to two cops. If he's not a suspect in the matter, let him go. If he is, he will not be speaking to anyone until he has his lawyer present. Have a nice day gentlemen."

Hiashi hung up and the officers stared at the phone in half-shock. Neji got up, tipping his head down in a mock-bow. He quickly made his leave, phone open, texting away.

There was a beat of silence after the officers were left alone. Asuma turned to Kakashi, mouth open as if he were about to say something, when Kakashi's phone began to ring.

Kakashi gave a deep sigh and leaned as far back into the chair as it would go. "Chief," He answered.

Asuma gave a start at the name but Kakashi idly waved his hand. He was saying, "Yes, we were interviewing Neji Hyuga. No, we won't do it again without your clearance, even though Sarutobi and I were just fulfilling protocol—"

Asuma lit another cigarette.

Kakashi wrapped up the conversation shortly, shaking his head as he put his phone back into his pocket. "Rich kids get off so easy. We'll have to keep an eye on Hyuga."

"Of course," Asuma agreed. "Him and the whole crew."

-:-

 _hello friends! Hope you enjoyed even though it wasn't anything terribly special. Hope to update soon. Review!_


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